A Reform party councillor who claimed racist comments about Nigerians were no more than a “bit of fun” has been handed a community order for posting grossly offensive material.
Glenn Gibbins, who was voted on to Sunderland council in May, wrote on Facebook in March 2024: “Carnt believe the amount of nigerians in town … should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes!!”
At a trial before a district judge on Monday, Gibbins, 66, said it was meant to be no more than “cheeky”, “naughty” and “tongue in cheek”. He said the post was not meant to be taken literally. “It was just a bit of fun.”
It was agreed at South Tyneside magistrates court in South Shields that the social media post was offensive – the question was whether it was grossly offensive.
District judge Zoe Passfield ruled that the post breached the Malicious Communications Act and was grossly offensive.
She said Gibbins “intention was to be grossly offensive to Nigerians as a result of his displeasure at the number of them in the city.”
Gibbins has been sentenced to a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. Adam King defending, said they would be appealing against the decision to the crown court.
Prosecutor Emma Dowling said Gibbins’ post was talking about “exterminating” a group of people. “To say that it’s not to be taken seriously is to disregard history,” she said.
“The comment about melting them down conjures up despicable images.”
Godwin Ejeh, the leader of the Nigerian community in Sunderland, was called as a witness and recalled how he called an emergency meeting of Nigerians after the post came to light.
The mood of the meeting was “chaotic”, he said because of the “level of distress”. People were concerned for their safety and the safety of their children. People wanted an apology so decided a protest should take place outside city hall.
Ejeh, a Lib Dem council candidate in May, said the comments should never have been made. “We are talking about humans. It’s not something people should play with.”
Gibbins, who ran a mobile personalised gifts and T-shirt kiosk in a Sunderland shopping centre, said he would not have described himself as a political person before this year.
He said he thought he was approached by Reform in March to run as a councillor because of a T-shirt with Nigel Farage on it on a mannequin on his stall.
He had been asked to print the T-shirt by someone drinking all day in a nearby pub. That person was “clearly intoxicated”, Gibbins said, and forgot to pick up the T-shirt, so he put it on the mannequin.
When he got a call from Reform asking if he would run as a councillor he saw it as a way of getting some income during the normal summer lull for his business. “They explained they were looking for a candidate. I didn’t even know councillors got paid. I thought it would tide me over.”
King said his client’s social media post was not politically motivated. “Reform would do well to pay more attention to the people they put forward for election,” he said.
Gibbins made the post after a couple of beers and said they were not his words. He said he had been trying to repost something he read but failed so typed in the words himself. About six friends responded with laughter, thumbs up and heart emojis.
King said it was a “stupid, unfunny joke. We come across stupid, unfunny jokes all the time.”
He pointed to jokes by professional comedians that had not resulted in criminal proceedings, namely Jo Brand in 2019 on the BBC, making a joke about throwing battery acid on Nigel Farage; and Jimmy Carr when he made a joke about the Holocaust and Gypsies on his Netflix special.
King said courts in the UK had also asserted the importance of free speech in “full-throttled, uncompromising terms”.
Gibbins said he had been suspended by Reform, then reinstated, but was now suspended again.
