UK councillor convicted over call to 'melt down' Nigerians
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch
Glenn Gibbins, a 66-year-old Sunderland councillor and former Reform UK member, has been sentenced by a British court to a 12-month community order, including 150 hours of unpaid work, over a March 2024 Facebook post found to be grossly offensive towards Nigerians. According to Chronicle Live, he suggested melting them down to fill potholes.
A British court has convicted Glenn Gibbins, a 66-year-old former Sunderland city councillor, over remarks deemed "grossly offensive" towards the city’s Nigerian community. The former Reform UK councillor, elected in May, was found guilty after a three-hour trial at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court, according to Chronicle Live, cited by The PUNCH.
Judge Zoe Passfield sentenced him to a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. Glenn Gibbins had accepted that his remarks were offensive but disputed that they were grossly offensive, according to Chronicle Live.
The remarks were posted on Facebook in March 2024. Glenn Gibbins wrote there that Nigerians in the city should be "melted down" to fill potholes. He told the court it was a joke and an unrealistic scenario that was not meant to be taken literally. Prosecutor Emma Dowling said the wording portrayed Nigerians as "somewhat less than human", according to Chronicle Live.
Godwin Ejeh, head of the Nigerian community in Sunderland, said he had led a protest outside the town hall on the day Glenn Gibbins was due to be sworn in. The councillor had, however, been suspended by Reform UK after the post was discovered and did not attend the ceremony. The remarks were spotted by the organisation Hope Not Hate while it was reviewing Glenn Gibbins’s posts after he announced his candidacy in the Sunderland local elections, according to Chronicle Live.
