Grimsby race hate accused 'was Ku Klux Klan member'

Nathan Worrell is on trial at Grimsby Crown Court

A man accused of stirring up racial hatred by displaying neo-Nazi stickers told a court he was previously a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Nathan Worrell, 46, is alleged to have posted the stickers on lamp posts and street furniture in Grimsby and Hull between October 2017 and January 2018.

He denies 11 race hate offences concerning the possession and publication of far-right material.

Grimsby Crown Court heard he believed in "race separation".

However, giving evidence, Mr Worrell, of Scott Close, Grimsby, denied supporting the "lynching of black people" by the Ku Klux Klan.

Prosecutor Simon Davis asked him: "Why were you a member of the Ku Klux Klan?"

"As I supported some parts of the Ku Klux Klan - race separation." he replied.

"I don't believe in diversity or multiculturalism."

He described himself as an "ethno-nationalist" and denied the Holocaust took place.

He said he made stickers promoting the far-right group Combat 18 and stuck them up around North East Lincolnshire.

Mr Worrell said: "If people don't like it, they can just ignore it. It's just promoting an organisation."

'White country'

He denied he was a Nazi and distanced himself from the term.

He said he wanted the UK to be a "white country" and that he "would prefer Muslims not to be here".

Mr Worrell denies five counts of publishing or distributing written material with intent to stir up racial hatred and six counts of possession of racially inflammatory material.

The trial continues.