‘Two tier justice is out of control’: Fury as Labour councillor who called for Southport protesters’ throats to be cut is cleared of encouraging violent disorder
A Labour councillor who called for protesters’ throats to be cut has been cleared of encouraging violent disorder – prompting claims of ‘two-tier justice’.
Ricky Jones made the inflammatory comments at a counter-demonstration in north London in response to anti-migrant rallies sparked by the Southport stabbings.
In a video from the event in Walthamstow on August 7, 2024, Jones is seen telling cheering supporters: ‘They are disgusting Nazi fascists. We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.’
The 58-year-old also drew his finger across his throat as he spoke to the crowd.
However, jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court cleared him of all charges this morning after deliberating for just over half an hour.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the verdict ‘another outrageous example of two-tier justice’.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: ‘The development of two tier justice is becoming increasingly alarming.
‘The government must come forward with plans to ensure justice is handed out equally, regardless of the background or views of the perpetrator – but as far as I can see this Labour government seems to be quite happy with two tier justice.’
Ricky Jones called for anti-migrant protesters’ throats to be cut at an anti-racism rally in August last year
The suspended Labour councillor leaves Snaresbrook Crown Court, where he was found not guilty of encouraging violent disorder today
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage criticised the verdict
Meanwhile, Zia Yusuf – who now heads Reform’s ‘DOGE’ unit, compared the outcome to the jailing of Lucy Connolly, who sent a racist tweet during last summer’s riots.
He said: ‘The Labour councillor literally caught on video calling for people to slit the throats of his political opponents has been found not guilty.
‘Meanwhile Lucy Connolly gets 31 months in jail? Two tier justice in this country is out of control.’
However, barrister Joanna Hardy-Susskind rejected the comparison, writing on X: ‘Lucy Connolly pleaded guilty and was sentenced. Ricky Jones pleaded not guilty and was acquitted by a jury
‘That is not two-tier justice. It is legally illiterate to imply one was punished and the other ”let off scot free” when one of them was quite literally acquitted after trial.’
Jones, who has been a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent since 2019, was suspended by the Labour Party the day after the incident.
It is understood that a party investigation remains ongoing and its outcome will decide what happens to his membership.
A spokesperson for the party said at the time that his behaviour ‘was completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated’.
The politician, who at the time was also employed as a full-time official for the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) union, was arrested on August 8 last year and interviewed at Brixton police station that night.
Prosecutor Ben Holt previously told the court that Jones, a father of four and grandfather, used ‘inflammatory, rabble-rousing language in the throng of a crowd described as a tinderbox’.
He told jurors Jones’s speech was amplified through a microphone and speakers and took place ‘in a setting where violence could readily have been anticipated’.
Wearing a black polo top and surrounded by cheering supporters, the councillor called protesters ‘fascists’ and drew his finger across his throat
Former Tory home secretary James Cleverly called the verdict ‘unacceptable’ and ‘perverse’
Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf said the decision showed ‘two tier justice in this country is out of control’
Superintendent Jack May-Robinson previously told the court: ‘Any spark could have led to an incident or disorder occurring.’
But during his evidence, Jones instead described the mood in the crowd at the time as ‘happy and joyful’, adding: ‘There clearly wasn’t any upset or anger from any people in that scene, because they clearly knew it was about what happened on the train.’
Jones said his comment did not refer to anti-migrant protesters involved in the riots at the time, but to those who had reportedly left National Front stickers on a train with razor blades hidden behind them.
Before he made the comment, jurors were shown video where he said to crowds: ‘You’ve got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays.
‘They don’t give a s*** about who they hurt.’
He told the court he was ‘appalled’ by political violence, adding: ‘I’ve always believed the best way to make people realise who you are and what you are is to do it peacefully.’
Jones said he has been affected by ADHD, dyslexia and dyscalculia.
Asked in court how his ‘neuro diversity’ had influenced what he said, Jones replied: ‘I believe I was distracted. You heard a person shouting ‘yeah talk your talk’. He got very excited. He didn’t know that his jeering was going to distract me.
‘If you go back to the video, you can see there is a person seven or eight rows behind me. He is not even listening to what I was saying. He was listening to someone else.
‘What I’ve learnt from this is to never stand up again and speak at a demonstration when you haven’t prepared what you are going to say.’
Jones, who had been a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent since 2019, was suspended by the Labour Party the day after the alleged incident
Jones hiding behind a top hat as he leaves court on Tuesday
Axel Rudakubana, whose family moved to Britain from Rwanda in 2002, was found guilty of murdering Ellie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29, 2024.
He was also convicted of ten attempted murders, one of producing the biological toxin ricin and one of possession of an Al Qaeda training manual. He was jailed for 52 years.
The killings sparked riots nationwide after false rumours online that Rudakubana was a Muslim asylum seeker who had recently arrived in Britain on a small boat.
