The oppression of Emma West : the politically correct end game plays out
Note: I include all the media coverage of her sentencing that I could find by googling. Rather predictably, the broadsheets did come up. RH
The oppression of Emma West : the politically correct end game plays out
R H
In November 2011 Emma West was arrested and subsequently charged for a racially aggravated public order offence (http://englandcalling.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/emma-west-immigration-and-the-liberal-totalitarian-state/). The charges concerned her public denunciation of the effects of mass immigration whilst on a tram in Croydon, a suburb of London (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pONVYjAd1wc).
After playing her for nearly twenty months , the politically correct British establishment have finally landed their fish: Miss West has not only been found guilty but mentally ill. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23128956). She has been given a two year community order for two years and been bound over to keep the peace. The community order is likely to concentrate on probation supervision and “treatment” for her “offending” behaviour (http://www.london-probation.org.uk/what_we_do/community_order.aspx). In addition she has been given a mental health treatment order for assaulting a constable dealing with the case.
This is the best of all outcomes for the British elite, because not only have they avoided a contested trial, her words of resentment at what had happened to her country are now officially deemed to be the result of mental illness amplified by taking two and a half times the recommended dose of the antidepressant Citalopram. In addition, she had drunk one large glass of wine. More on the antidepressant later. .
In addition to these pc goodies, Miss West has been persuaded to make a Maoist style admission of fault, including the truly mind-boggling statement by her barrister David Martin-Sperry that the support she had been offered by the likes of the BNP and NF had “"deeply distressed" his client and, coupled with the pressure of the trial, led her to try and take her own life on three separate occasions.” (http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Emma-West-isn-t-racist-s-unwell-says-friend/story-19215366-detail/story.html#ixzz2XsJKooQT). Really, Mr Martin-Sperry? The support of people who share her views on immigration drove her to attempted suicide?
As for citalopram (http://tinyurl.com/Citopramsideeffects), the common side effects of this do not include aggression. Indeed , the common effects on mental state are more likely to be either sedative (the drug may create drowsiness) or anxiety. Other common effects are problems with concentration and memory. Aggression can be associated with the drug but it is very uncommon (1 in 1,000 takers experience such an effect according to the NHS guidance).
The video of part of the Croydon tram event (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pONVYjAd1wc) does not show Miss West either being mentally confused or exhibiting an uncontrolled aggression. In fact, bearing in mind she had her six year-old son with her and was surrounded by many racial and ethnic minority people, she demonstrated a distinct command of herself. To ascribe her complaints, as her barrister did, to the effects of the drug plus the wine producing “unusual ideas", is dubious in the extreme because her demeanour did not suggest she was in the grip of a drug-induced frenzy. Moreover, what is “unusual” about being appalled by the effects of mass immigration? The drug “explanation” of course fits in with the politically correct idea that no one could have such views if they were of normal mind.
The Killer Fact
The killer fact in the case is this, the authorities did not bring her to trial while she was offering a plea of NOT GUILTY. The not guilty plea was maintained for a very long time (19 Months) until June this year (19 months) when doubtless ground down by the delay and the constant threat of having her son taken from her, she changed her plea to GUILTY. That removed the embarrassment or worse of having a contested trial on the subject that the British elite fear most: honest talking about immigration and its consequences.
Consider what the supposedly liberal , ostentatiously caring powers-that-be were prepared to do to a seriously ill woman to avoid a contested trial . Her psychiatric history is lengthy and severe (she had been receiving treatment for depression since she was 18) and includes suicide attempt. She also suffered the rarity of being “sectioned” (taken into residential psychiatric care against her will) for treatment not long before her episode on the tram (http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Emma-West-isn-t-racist-s-unwell-says-friend/story-19215366-detail/story.html#ixzz2XsJKooQT) .
Despite this medical background, she was refused bail when first arrested and was originally remanded for more than a month (she was released after eight days following protests) in the highest security woman’s prison in England HMP Bronzefield (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16051120). Contemptibly, the authorities tried to claim her custody was for her own safety despite the fact that Miss West had not claimed she felt under threat. She then went through the torment of having her case scheduled no less than seven times before changing her plea to guilty
(http://englandcalling.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/emma-west-and-the-state-the-state-has-its-way-sort-off/), while all the time living with the threat of having her son taken away. Indeed, she is still living with that because the social services may decide she is unfit because she has exhibited in their eyes “racist tendencies”. Furthermore, according to her barrister “There have been threats to burn her house, she has been physically assaulted and beaten to the ground outside her home” It would be interesting to know if her assailant is being prosecuted.
Her Barrister did his best to get the case thrown out:
“[Martin-Sperry] even unsuccessfully applied to the Attorney General for a ‘nolle prosequi’.
This would have terminated proceedings and is most often used where the defendant is physically unfit to be produced.
Mr Martin-Sperry said the Crown Prosecution Service, which rejected all attempts to have the proceedings discontinued, had mishandled the case and was making an abuse of process application when a compromise was reached.
He added: “At the back of all this there is a woman who is really now not being prosecuted but persecuted, which is not a word I use lightly.”
Julius Capon, prosecuting, said: “While Ms West has been on bail she has attacked and injured others, including her husband.
“It’s all very well to say that the Crown’s position is intransigent but, while we can look on the defendant with a certain amount of sympathy for her condition, the evidence against her is overwhelming and she has no defence.”
Judge Warwick McKinnon, the Recorder of Croydon, said: “It seems to me that some heads need to be bashed together.
“People are getting in entrenched positions and losing all sense of proportion. This case is in danger of careering out of control.”(http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Emma-West-isn-t-racist-s-unwell-says-friend/story-19215366-detail/story.html#ixzz2XsJKooQT).
That report shows exactly how out of the ordinary this case was. The authorities could have reasonably dropped the case on the grounds of her mental health. They could have offered her a police caution , which would not only have ended the case quickly but would have left her without a criminal record. Cautions are routinely given to burglars and even to rapists, so the relatively minor charges Miss West faced (far less serious than burglary or rape) would have been well within the police cautionary remit. Instead she was, in her barrister’s apt words, persecuted for the better part of two years until she offered a plea of guilty. That is how obsessively ruthless the politically correct are when they have power.
But the point is not whether Miss West was or was not guilty of the crimes with which she was charged. Rather, it is that she had committed no crime in any society which calls itself free. For her to be prosecuted because she publicly expressed her feelings about the invasion of her country through mass immigration tells its own sinister tale, namely, this is something that is no longer permitted in a public place. To see how extreme the present situation is try to imagine how any individual or group in England, however reasonable or controlled in their language, could make an unambiguous public protest about the effects of mass immigration and not run the risk of prosecution or fail to be condemned by the mainstream media and politicians as anything but “racists”, “extreme right-wingers” and “fascists” and “Nazis” who are utterly beyond the Pale. Would any group which advocated an end to mass immigration be allowed to march in support of that idea? Frankly I doubt it.
What Miss West was protesting about was the most profound treason because that is what the permitting of mass immigration is. Unlike conquest by force, those who settle through permitted immigration into the country and their descendants cannot be evicted as a conqueror by force might be evicted, either by killing the invader or forcing them back to their own land, with the absolute moral right in the matter resting with the invaded.
Mass immigration permitted by the rulers does not provide any such moral clarity. It is both insidious because it takes place over a long period (which makes it difficult resist initially because the numbers are small) and because allows the ethnic and racial groups which see themselves as separate from the native population or are seen as separate by the native population to constantly chip away at the natural restraints which prevent large numbers of people entering an advanced modern state such as Britain. An ideology such as multiculturalism is encouraged. Ethnic and racial minorities constantly demand more privileges and rights. The liberal elite goes along with the idea willingly for quite a time then becomes a prisoner of their ideology as to admit the policy was disastrous means that the pack of multicultural cards collapses. By the time settlement reaches the level which Britain now experiences , a society has one of two choices: to carry on and eventually sink into ethnic/racial war or to remove of the politically correct elite from power and replace them with people who understand human nature both individually and in the mass.
1 July 2013 Last updated at 16:57
Emma West Croydon tram race rant woman sentenced
Emma West was filmed on a tram
A woman who was filmed shouting racist abuse on a London tram in a video watched by 11 million people has been given a community sentence.
Emma West, 36, of New Addington, admitted racially-aggravated disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment or distress at Croydon Crown Court.
West was filmed shouting racist abuse at passengers travelling on a tram between Croydon and Wimbledon.
She was bound over to keep the peace and handed a 24-month community order.
A judge said West was clearly suffering from mental health problems at the time of the outburst.
She received a mental health treatment order for assaulting a constable in a separate incident.
The court heard she was "reeking of alcohol" when she carried out the verbal attack.
“Start Quote
She in essence persecuted a number of passengers on the tram”
Julius CaponProsecutor
Prosecutor Julius Capon said: "She in essence persecuted a number of passengers on the tram, subjecting them to some disgusting racial abuse."
The things she said included "you're not English", "none of you are English" and "get back to your own countries".
Mr Capon said many of the passengers were "upset" by West's behaviour.
"Some of them described themselves as being disgusted, shocked and horrified," he said.
David Martin-Sperry, defending West, said the defendant's offending was out of character, she was taking anti-depressants and she does not harbour any racist views.
Mr Martin-Sperry said she had unwittingly taken two and a half times the recommended dose and drunk a large glass of wine before launching the tirade.
'What has this country come to?': Mother who launched vile racist tram rant which was caught on camera is spared jail
- Judge said Emma West was clearly suffering mental health problems
- Court hears she unwittingly overdosed on medication for depression
- Video of her yelling 'what has this country come to?' went viral
- Was bound over to keep the peace following sentencing today
By JAMES RUSH
|
A mother whose tirade of racist abuse at fellow passengers on a tram received millions of viewings on YouTube was bound over to keep the peace today.
A judge said that Emma West, 36, was clearly suffering from mental health problems at the time of the outburst on board the tram in Croydon, south London, and had unwittingly overdosed on the medication she took for depression.
Footage of the mother-of-two yelling 'what has this country come to? None of you is f****** English' went viral and was viewed by millions around the world.
Footage of Emma West yelling at passengers on the tram in Croydon was watched by million of people across the globe
West, from Croydon, was also handed a 24-month community order for offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against her partner and assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty as she appeared for sentencing at Croydon Crown Court.
The court heard witnesses described West 'reeking of alcohol' when she carried out the verbal attack.
Prosecutor Julius Capon said: 'She in essence persecuted a number of passengers on the tram, subjecting them to some disgusting racial abuse.'
He said the things she said included 'you’re not English', 'none of you are English', 'f*** off' and 'get back to your own countries'.
Mr Capon said many of the passengers were 'upset' by West’s behaviour.
'Some of them described themselves as being disgusted, shocked and horrified,' he said.
Emma West (pictured outside court last month) pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence
But he added that it was not them who complained to police, rather that it came to their attention after a passenger who had filmed it posted it on the internet.
David Martin-Sperry, defending West, said the defendant’s offending was out of character and she does not harbour any racist views.
Mr Martin-Sperry told the court he had heard figures quoted that the footage had received either 11 million or 25 million viewings on YouTube.
'She was a normal, perfectly healthy young woman who held a job for ten years and events took a turn for the worse. There were mental health issues, she was committed more than once for treatment'
- Recorder of Croydon Judge Warwick McKinnon
The huge amount of publicity the case generated led her to attempt suicide and she had become reclusive due to the abuse she received when she left the house, he said.
It also led her to receive flowers and messages of support from far right supporters. Some have even sent her cheques.
'People gave support to what they thought was a noble cause - they could not be more wrong,' he said.
Mr Martin-Sperry said before the tram incident took place West had admitted herself to an institution attached to the psychiatric Maudsley Hospital in Camberwell, south London.
On the day of the incident, in late 2011, she had again felt 'overheated' and went to see her psychiatrist who increased her dose of citalopram.
After collecting her prescription she took one pill after having already taken one that day and drank a large glass of wine before taking the tram home.
West was also handed a 24-month community order for offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against her partner and assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty as she appeared for sentencing at Croydon Crown Court (pictured)
Mr Martin-Sperry said that not only had she taken twice her usual dosage, five days later the maximum limit was reduced from 60mg to 40mg, and so she had in fact taken two and a half times the recommended dose when that was taken into account.
Following a string of adjournments in which her lawyers claimed her mental health problems meant she was not fit to stand trial, West pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence in June - 18 months after the rant.
For this offence, West was bound over to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 12 months, and must not engage in any offensive or disorderly behaviour on public transport.
'She in essence persecuted a number of passengers on the tram, subjecting them to some disgusting racial abuse'
- Prosecutor Julius Capon
She pleaded guilty in May this year to attacking her partner of 12 years Ricky Metson with an ornamental knife and assaulting a police officer.
For this offence she was given a community order for 24 months with a supervision requirement for the period under the supervision of a probation officer and a mental health treatment requirement with her current psychiatrist.
Recorder of Croydon Judge Warwick McKinnon said: 'She was a normal, perfectly healthy young woman who held a job for ten years and events took a turn for the worse.
'There were mental health issues, she was committed more than once for treatment.
'After months and months and months of adjournments - not your fault - because the primary concern was your mental health, you did plead guilty and I give you full credit for that.'
Woman in YouTube racist rant on tram given community sentence
http://metro.co.uk/2013/07/02/woman-in-youtube-racist-rant-on-tram-given-community-sentence-3865064/
Emma West pleaded guilty (Picture: Cascade)
A mother whose tirade of racist abuse at fellow passengers on a tram received millions of viewings on YouTube has been bound over to keep the peace.
Emma West, 36, was suffering from mental health problems at the time of the outburst on board the tram in Croydon, a court heard.
Croydon Crown Court was told West had unwittingly taken two and a half times the dose of medication she took for depression.
West from New Addington, south London, pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour when she appeared at the court earlier this month.
She was also handed a 24-month community order for assaulting her partner and a police officer in a separate incident.
The mother-of-two, wearing a black trouser suit, wept after being sentenced.
Witnesses described West as ‘reeking of alcohol’ during her tirade.
Prosecutor Julius Capon said: ‘She in essence persecuted a number of passengers on the tram, subjecting them to some disgusting racial abuse.’
He said the things she said included ‘you’re not English’, ‘none of you are English’, ‘f*** off’ and ‘get back to your own countries’.
Mr Capon said many of the passengers were ‘upset’ by West’s behaviour.
‘Some of them described themselves as being disgusted, shocked and horrified,’ he said.
The rant was filmed and posted on YouTube in November 2011 (Picture: Cascade)
But he added that it was not them who complained to police, rather that it came to their attention after a passenger who had filmed it posted it on the internet.
David Martin-Sperry, defending West, said the defendant’s offending was out of character and that she is not a racist.
The huge amount of publicity the case generated led her to attempt suicide and she had become reclusive due to the abuse she received when she left the house, he said.
But she also received flowers and messages as well as cheques from far right supporters.
Mr Martin-Sperry said before the tram incident took place West had admitted herself to a psychiatric institution.
After collecting a prescription she took one pill after having already taken one that day and drank a large glass of wine before taking the tram home.
Recorder of Croydon Warwick McKinnon said of the high dosage of antidepressants West had taken ‘would lead to unintended consequences’.
The recorder also said he would give West full credit for pleading at the first available opportunity to the other two offences.
The court also heard that she ‘suddenly snapped’ and attacked her partner of 10 years, Ricky Metson, when they were at home together on the evening of May 15 this year.
West had been drinking wine before she started striking Mr Metson, who has stood by her and sat at the back of the court.
He tried to calm her down but she went upstairs and came back with an ornamental knife with which she cut his head.
Mr Metson called police and West kicked one of the officers as they tried to restrain her.
But the court was told she had intended to use the knife to harm herself rather than her partner, who received only superficial injuries and did not require hospital treatment.
Racist tram rant mum Emma West sentenced to community service
3:20pm Monday 1st July 2013 in NewsBy Hannah Williamson
Emma West changed her plea to the tram rant last month
A woman filmed unleashing a racist abuse at passengers on a New Addington bound tram has been ordered to carry out community service.
Emma West of New Addington, was secretly filmed by a fellow passenger on a mobile phone and the clip, entitled My Tram Experience, was posted on the video sharing website YouTube in November 2011.
More than 2.2m people viewed the clip in the first 24 hours of it being posted online and 88,000 members of the public commented on the footage.
This afternoon she was bound over to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 12 months and to not engage in offensive or disorderly behaviour on public transport, or face paying a £100 fine in relation to the tram rant.
Appearing at Croydon Crown Court today, West was also sentenced for assaulting her partner Ricky Metson with an ornamental knife and assaulting a police officer - for which she was given a community order for 24 months with two requirements.
One is a supervision requirement for that period under probation and the other is a mental health treatment requirement under her current consultant psychiatrist.
Last month West finally admitted the racist rant, more than a year-and-a-half after the racist rant, and after a string of adjournments where her lawyers claimed her mental health problems meant she was not fit to stand trial.
During sentencing, Judge Warwick McKinnon said West had been a perfectly normal young woman who when in good health held down a job for 10 years, but events took a turn for the worse.
Http://Www.Voice-Online.Co.Uk/Article/Woman-Given-Community-Sentence-Racist-Tram-Rant
Woman Given Community Sentence For Racist Tram Rant
Emma West handed two-year reprimand
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Emma West was filmed hurling abuse at passengers on board a tram
A WOMAN filmed hurling racist abuse on a London tram has been given a community sentence.
Emma West, 34, of new Addington, was handed a 24-month community order after admitting to racially-aggravated disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment or distress at Croydon Crown Court.
West was caught on a mobile phone video making offensive comments to passengers aboard a tram travelling between Croydon and Wimbledon.
The footage of the abuse was uploaded to YouTube where it was watched by 11 million viewers.
A judge said West was clearly suffering from mental health problems at the time of the outburst.
Prosecutor Julius Capon said: "She in essence persecuted a number of passengers on the tram, subjecting them to some disgusting racial abuse."
What she said included: "You're not English"; "none of you are English"; and "get back to your own countries".
David Martin-Sperry, representing West, said the defendant's offence was out of character, adding that she was taking anti-depressants and does not hold any racist beliefs.
Furthermore, her lawyer said she had unwittingly taken two-and-a-half times the recommended dose and consumed a large glass of wine before the tirade.
Posted on: 01/07/2013 05:37 PM
Emma West 'isn't a racist, she's unwell', says friend
MILLIONS watched her hurl abuse at black and Polish passengers on a crowded Croydon tram and, when she was arrested, her cause was adopted by far right groups such as the National Front.
But is Emma West, the mother-of-two who this week pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence, a racist?
-
Emma West and Ricky Metson arrive at one of her court appearances
Not according to her close friend Kerry Finch, who believes the 35-year-old, from New Addington, is an unwell and vulnerable woman struggling to deal with bipolar depression.
"I don't condone her behaviour or what she said because it was disgusting," said Ms Finch.
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"But Emma isn't a racist. She lost it because she is very unwell and lashed out in a way she knew would upset whoever happened to be there.
"Had the tram been full of pretty people she would have been calling them slags and prostitutes."
West, a former dental receptionist, has suffered from depression since she was 18, and had been admitted to a psychiatric unit in Purley a month before her tram tirade in October 2011.
In an interview with the Advertiser at the time, which can only now be published for legal reasons, Miss Finch said West had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act after attacking and hurling abuse at her for being "pretty".
Two days after being released, she went to see a therapist with her son at the Tamworth Road Resource Centre, in West Croydon.
"The session was pretty tough," said Miss Finch.
"She had spoken about things she hadn't spoken about before.
"Afterwards she had a glass of wine at lunch. It doesn't sound like much but on the medication she was on, it's always been enough to set her off."
West had taken 100mg of antidepressant Citalopram, more than twice the recommended limit.
Her barrister, David Martin-Sperry, said a recognised side-effect of the drug was developing "unusual ideas".
"When she got on the tram it was really busy," said Miss Finch.
"She was holding her son and no-one would give up their seat.
"Someone knocked into her and her son fell on the floor.
"That's when she behaved so despicably."
Though her rant, which included "You aren't British, you're black", was caught on camera by another passenger, no-one reported the incident to the police.
"When she returned home she knew something had happened but she couldn't remember what," Mr Martin-Sperry told the Advertiser.
"Then a month or so later she turned on the television and her face was all over the news. She couldn't believe what she had done."
The video would go on to be watched by more than 11 million people after it was posted on YouTube on November 28, 2011.
It provoked outrage. Television presenter Piers Morgan called for her to be deported. Others said she should be locked up.
The attention prompted the police to appeal for witnesses. West was tracked down and charged with a racially aggravated public order offence, prompting her cause to be taken up by right-wing groups such as the British National Party and National Front.
Their support, said Mr Martin-Sperry, "deeply distressed" his client and, coupled with the pressure of the trial, led her to try and take her own life on three separate occasions.
The Advertiser understands that she was admitted to a psychiatric unit after twice being found on roundabouts in Croydon, intent on throwing herself in front of traffic.
Her deteriorating mental health led to concerns for her safety and that of her family; fears which were realised last month when she stabbed her husband Ricky Metson with an ornamental knife during an argument.
Mr Metson was stabbed twice in the back during the attack at their home in Grenville Road, New Addington, on May 15. When officers arrived to arrest her she kicked them.
The following day, West appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court and was remanded in custody after pleading guilty to actual bodily harm and assaulting a police officer.
It was during a bail hearing in relation to this case at Croydon Crown Court on Monday that she changed her plea after both the prosecution and defence agreed to a compromise suggested by Judge Warwick McKinnon.
West had denied racially aggravated intentional harassment on a tram travelling between Croydon and Wimbledon between September 30 and November 28, 2011.
However, she has now pleaded guilty to a lesser offence of racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress, which crucially does not include mention of 'intent'.
She was bailed to return to Croydon Crown Court to be sentenced for the tram rant, and the assaults on her husband and the police officer, on July 1.
Speaking at the couple's home, Mr Metson, who is standing by his wife, said they wanted to be left alone to rebuild their lives.
How court case "careered out of control"
Emma West maintained her innocence for nearly two years despite her rant being caught on video and watched by millions of people across the world.
West’s trial had been adjourned five times, most recently on April 9, amid debate as to whether she was fit to stand.
Other hearings in June, July and then September last year were put back, as well as a scheduled trial date in January.
Full details of those hearings can only now be revealed after a reporting restriction imposed by a judge was lifted.
West’s defence team insisted she would not plead guilty to a racial offence for fear of being branded a racist but was “manifestly” unfit to stand trial because she was a “gibbering wreck”.
Barrister David Martin-Sperry even unsuccessfully applied to the Attorney General for a ‘nolle prosequi’.
This would have terminated proceedings and is most often used where the defendant is physically unfit to be produced.
Mr Martin-Sperry said the Crown Prosecution Service, which rejected all attempts to have the proceedings discontinued, had mishandled the case and was making an abuse of process application when a compromise was reached.
He added: “At the back of all this there is a woman who is really now not being prosecuted but persecuted, which is not a word I use lightly.”
Julius Capon, prosecuting, said: “While Ms West has been on bail she has attacked and injured others, including her husband.
“It’s all very well to say that the Crown’s position is intransigent but, while we can look on the defendant with a certain amount of sympathy for her condition, the evidence against her is overwhelming and she has no defence.”
Judge Warwick McKinnon, the Recorder of Croydon, said: “It seems to me that some heads need to be bashed together.
“People are getting in entrenched positions and losing all sense of proportion. This case is in danger of careering out of control.”
On Monday both sides agreed to the Judge McKinnon’s compromise, and West pleaded guilty to a lesser offence normally dealt with by a magistrates’ court by way of a fine. She is expected to receive a community sentence.
Far-right support 'led to suicide attempts'
THE far-right was quick to hijack Emma West’s case, claiming her arrest to be an attack on freedom of speech.
Members of the National Front and the English Defence League regularly attended her court appearances, and sent her flowers and cheques in the post.
BNP leader Nick Griffin posted messages of support on social networking site Twitter before West made her first appearance at Croydon Magistrates’ Court in December 2011.
After she was remanded in custody her supporters shouted “treason” and “what a disgrace” from a public gallery which included former Croydon Central BNP candidate Clifford Le May and Carlos Cortiglia, who stood to be Mayor of London in 2012.
Her cause was championed on fascist websites, including neo-Nazi Stormfront, which has a dozen threads of support including one called “The Persecution of Emma West”.
Britain First, which describes itself as a “patriotic political movement”, started a campaign to have the charge against her dropped.
Its members staged a protest outside HMP Bronzefield, in Ashford, where West was remanded.
Last June the Advertiser revealed that the National Front were selling badges proclaiming West to be a “British Hero” ahead of her trial.
The pins, emblazoned with “Emma West was right” were being sold on eBay for £2.50. A Facebook group, one of many calling Free Emma West, attracted 900 members.
West’s legal team argued the unwanted attention was adding to her distress and made her fear for her safety. Such was her concern that police installed a panic button at her home.
“This case, from the outset, was picked up on by forces of the political right,” said Mr Martin-Sperry at a hearing in April.
“The net result is that threats have been made to burn down her house, not by the political right but by people from the other end of the political spectrum.
“There have been threats to burn her house, she has been physically assaulted and beaten to the ground outside her home.
“If she is to plead guilty to an offence which contained the words racial aggravation, she fears being labelled a racist.”
This week Mr Martin-Sperry said the arson threats had been made on an internet forum and the assault had not been reported to the police.
National Front spokesman Tony Martin said the party did not condone West’s behaviour, but said her treatment has been “completely out of proportion”.
(Report by Gareth Davies)
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