The appeal will test how courts weigh claims of humour against the distress of a community, and what it means for a party that has recruited candidates with little political background.
A Reform UK councillor in Sunderland has been handed a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work after a Facebook post about Nigerians that a district judge ruled was grossly offensive. Glenn Gibbins, 66, was voted on to the council in May. The post, written in March 2024, read: “Carnt believe the amount of nigerians in town… should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes!!” The Guardian reports that District Judge Zoe Passfield found the post breached the Malicious Communications Act and that Gibbins’ intention was to be grossly offensive to Nigerians “as a result of his displeasure at the number of them in the city”.
Gibbins told South Tyneside magistrates court in South Shields that the comment was “cheeky”, “naughty” and “tongue in cheek”, and that it was not meant to be taken literally. “It was just a bit of fun.” The court agreed the post was offensive; the question was whether it crossed into gross offensiveness. Prosecutor Emma Dowling said the post spoke of “exterminating” a group of people, and that melting them down “conjures up despicable images”. His defence, Adam King, said they would appeal to the crown court.
The human cost was set out by Godwin Ejeh, leader of Sunderland’s Nigerian community, who was called as a witness. He described calling an emergency meeting after the post came to light; the mood was “chaotic” because of the “level of distress”. People feared for their safety and that of their children, and wanted an apology, deciding to protest outside the city hall. “We are talking about humans,” Ejeh said. “It’s not something people should play with.”
The case also illuminates how Gibbins came to stand for office. He ran a mobile personalised gifts and T-shirt kiosk in a Sunderland shopping centre and said he had not thought of himself as political before this year. He believed Reform approached him in March because a T-shirt bearing Nigel Farage’s image was on a mannequin at his stall, printed for a customer who was “clearly intoxicated” and forgot to collect it. He saw the candidacy as income during the summer lull: “I didn’t even know councillors got paid.” King said Reform “would do well to pay more attention to the people they put forward for election”.
The defence invoked free speech, pointing to jokes by Jo Brand and Jimmy Carr that led to no criminal proceedings, and arguing that courts have upheld robust free expression. The judge drew a different line, weighing intent and the dehumanising content of the words. Gibbins said he had been suspended by Reform, reinstated, and suspended again. The party has not commented in the report on its vetting. The appeal will test how courts weigh claims of humour against the distress of a community, and what it means for a party that has recruited candidates with little political background.
