A former Manchester United apprentice and Royal Marine has been cleared of stirring up racial hatred after posting a Facebook video about the risks posed to the UK by unchecked illegal immigration.
Jamie Michael, a Free Speech Union (FSU) member from Penygraig, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was unanimously acquitted by a jury at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court in just 17 minutes. The FSU paid Michael’s legal fees and arranged for him to be represented by solicitor Luke Gittos and barrister Adam King.
Michael, 46, had been charged with publishing threatening material with intent to stir up racial hatred – in reality, a Facebook video. The 12-minute video, in which he urged people to stage peaceful protests about illegal immigration, was posted in the wake of the Southport murders.
Prosecutors claimed his language was “unrelentingly negative” towards migrants, but his defence made clear that his words were directed at Southport killer Axel Rudakubana and “illegal, unchecked or radicalised immigrants”.
The case had been sparked after a member of staff from the office of Welsh Labour MS Buffy Williams – an elected member of the Senedd – reported the video to the police. Michael was arrested and remanded in custody, although he was later let out on tag while awaiting trial. It later emerged that he was prosecuted by the Special Crime and Counter-Terrorism Division of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Taking the stand in his defence, Michael denied being racist but admitted his language had been “clumsy” in the emotional aftermath of the Southport attack. “As a parent, I felt gut-wrenched,” he told the court. “I wanted to get some kind of security measures in place for our children.”
The court heard that Michaels had been an apprentice footballer with Manchester United, Oxford United and Cardiff City before joining the Royal Marines, serving in Iraq in 2003, and later working in private security in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Everyone at the FSU is delighted by Jamie’s acquittal. The decision to prosecute him was an attack on free speech.
Jamie had urged people to protest peacefully, yet found himself facing the prospect of imprisonment for expressing views that – however objectionable to some Welsh Labour politicians – were lawful.
Before trial, solicitor Luke Gittos wrote to the Crown Prosecution Service, calling for the case to be dropped. Unfortunately this plea fell on deaf ears, even though the jury reached a verdict in less time than it took to hear the prosecution’s opening arguments.
It remains a matter of concern that Michael was prosecuted at the urging of a politician (the staffer in question was a Labour councillor). The authorities should have resisted this political pressure, given the time and resources wasted on this case. People should not face criminal charges for expressing lawful opinions, regardless of how distasteful those in power find them.
Michael’s swift acquittal also raises broader questions. If the dozens of people arrested and charged over social media comments last August had pleaded not guilty, how many of them would not now be in jail?
We urge anyone who’s concerned they might be arrested in connection with something they’ve said on social media to join the FSU. We can provide you with proper legal advice and, if we think your case has merit, arrange and pay for your legal defence, as we did in this case. No one should go to prison for hurty words.
Dr Frederick Attenborough is the Executive Director of Communications and Research at the Free Speech Union. This article was first published on the FSU website.
Stop Press: Laurie Wastell tweets that this means “of the six defendants to go to jury trial for offences during the Southport unrest, only one has been found guilty” – “confirming that Starmer’s tyrannical blanket remand policy last summer pushed many to plead guilty who stood a strong chance of going free at trial”.
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