| Asian men cleared of racially abusing Griffin |
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The verdict follows 45 minutes of deliberations 6th November 2009: A court has cleared of the charges an Asian accused of shouting racial abuses at the leader of the far-right British National Party, Nick Griffin. The verdict came after a three-day trial at Preston Crown Court. Available information indicates a jury of five women and seven men cleared Khalid of racially abusive threatening behaviour after deliberating for 45 minutes. Tariq Khalid, 23, had denied such behaviour at far right demonstrators in his home town of Burnley last November. He also denied making a gun gesture towards Griffin, who now is a Member of the European Parliament, or that he indicated he intended to shoot him. Khalid, however, told the jury about shouting derisory comments from his car at BNP demonstrators outside Burnley police station. Khalid said he stopped his silver Vauxhall Astra and shouted "Nick Griffin, you..." and made a V-sign with his fingers. He also admitted he shouted several times "get the... out of Burnely, you're not welcome here". Khalid said "I shouldn't have done what I done really, it was just a spur of the moment thing". Griffin said the behaviour of the man had prompted him to leave the demonstration fearing for his safety. |
