Reform UK Councillor in Sunderland Handed Community Order Over Racist Facebook Post About Nigerians

A Reform UK councillor who argued that racist remarks about Nigerians amounted to nothing more than a "bit of fun" has been given a community order for posting grossly offensive material online.

Glenn Gibbins, 66, who won a seat on 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!!"

Standing trial before a district judge on Monday, Gibbins described the post as "cheeky", "naughty" and "tongue in cheek", insisting it was never intended to be taken literally. "It was just a bit of fun," he told the court.

Both sides at South Tyneside magistrates court in South Shields accepted that the post was offensive. The dispute centred on whether it crossed the line into being grossly offensive. District judge Zoe Passfield concluded that it did, ruling that the message breached the Malicious Communications Act. 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 was sentenced to a 12-month community order requiring 150 hours of unpaid work. His defence lawyer, Adam King, said the decision would be appealed to the crown court.

Prosecutor Emma Dowling told the court the post spoke of "exterminating" a group of people. "To say that it's not to be taken seriously is to disregard history," she said, adding: "The comment about melting them down conjures up despicable images."

Godwin Ejeh, leader of Sunderland's Nigerian community, appeared as a witness and described calling an emergency meeting once the post came to light. He said the mood was "chaotic" because of the "level of distress", with people fearing for their own safety and that of their children. Community members wanted an apology and decided to hold a protest outside city hall. Ejeh, who stood as a Liberal Democrat council candidate in May, said: "We are talking about humans. It's not something people should play with."

Gibbins, who ran a mobile kiosk selling personalised gifts and T-shirts in a Sunderland shopping centre, told the court he had never considered himself political before this year. He said he believed Reform approached him in March because a mannequin on his stall displayed a T-shirt bearing Nigel Farage's image, a shirt he said had been ordered by a "clearly intoxicated" customer from a nearby pub who never collected it. When the party called asking him to stand, he saw it as a way to supplement his income during the summer slump. "They explained they were looking for a candidate. I didn't even know councillors got paid. I thought it would tide me over."

King argued the post was not politically motivated, remarking that "Reform would do well to pay more attention to the people they put forward for election." Gibbins said he wrote the message after a couple of beers and that the words were not his own, claiming he had tried and failed to repost something he had read before typing it out himself. Around six friends reacted with laughter, thumbs up and heart emojis.

Calling the post a "stupid, unfunny joke", King pointed to remarks by professional comedians that never led to prosecution, citing Jo Brand's 2019 BBC joke about throwing battery acid at Nigel Farage and Jimmy Carr's Netflix joke about the Holocaust and Gypsies. He added that UK courts have defended free speech in "full-throttled, uncompromising terms". Gibbins said Reform had suspended him, reinstated him, and then suspended him again.