Ricky Jones, a councillor for Dartford and a member of the Labour party, has been apprehended by the Metropolitan Police for urging violent disorder during a counter-protest in London. Jones was caught on camera delivering a speech in Walthamstow on August 7th, where he allegedly encouraged violent behaviour towards far-right protesters. On Friday, Jones was charged with encouraging violent disorder, and appeared in court where he was remanded in custody. There was no indication of a plea from Mr Jones.
Jones has been a councillor in Dartford, Kent, since 2019 and has since been suspended from the Labour party. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) released a statement saying that Jones “appeared to make remarks and a gesture to encourage others to act violently towards far-right protestors”. Deputy senior district judge Tan Ikram claimed the words Jones used were “capable of encouraging others to commit acts of serious violence, and further that you believed that your words would encourage violence against others.”
The case has been adjourned for a pre-trial preparation hearing on September 6th. Ahead of the hearing, Jaswant Narwal, chief crown prosecutor for CPS London North, reminded people that Jones has the right to a fair trial and that there should be no sharing of information that could potentially prejudice the trial.
The spokesperson for CPS announced that “it is alleged that using a microphone, you addressed a crowd at an anti-fascist protest and, talking about others you described as ‘disgusting Nazi fascists’, you said ‘we need to cut their throats and get rid of them”’. RestClient
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