Ex-BNP man fined over list
By politics.co.uk staff
A former member of the BNP has been fined for publishing a list containing the members of the party online.
District judge John Stobart fined Matthew Single, 37, £200.
He said the sum was low because Single was on benefits.
A party spokesman branded the fine an “absolute disgrace” and suggested Single should have been imprisoned.
He will have to pay another £100 towards the cost of prosecution, however.
“Anything that is posted on the internet has the effect of opening a Pandora’s Box,” the judge told Single at Nottingham Magistrates Court.
“What you put on the internet can never be taken from it and while there may be some members in this organisation who do not deserve to be protected by the law, they should be able to expect that officers within the organisation will not abuse the information provided to them.
“The law exists to save people from such revenge attacks.”
He added: “It came as a surprise to me, as it will to many members of the party, that to do something as foolish and as criminally dangerous as you did will only incur a financial penalty.
“It comes as no surprise to me that somebody to do with an organisation that prides itself on Britishness is in fact living off the British people on Job Seeker’s Allowance and that is why the fine is so low as to be ridiculous.”
BNP spokesman John Walker said: “As far as I’m concerned, it should have been a custodial sentence although I do know that there haven’t been very many cases brought yet.
“There have been some real victims in this case. People had their homes attacked and some people have lost their jobs.”
