BRITISH National Party organiser Richard Edmonds walked free from a court last Friday despite being convicted for his part in a savage attack on a young black man which left the victim scarred for life.
At Southwark Crown Court, the judge Christopher Hardy, sentenced Edmonds to three months for his part in an attack on hotel worker Steven Browne and his white girlfriend Jenny Bone.
Release
However, since Edmonds had already been in custody for over 11 weeks, he was immediately released.
Two other members of the BNP got prison sentences for the attack. Stephen O'Shea got 12 months for punching and kicking Browne; Simon Biggs got four and a half years for smashing a beer glass into Browne's face, scarring him for life.
The attack in a pub was clearly led and supervised by Edmonds. The convictions show that violence against black people is not only inspired, but directly organised and carried out by the BNP and its top leadership.
Edmonds claimed in court that he was trying to "restrain" his members during the attack, an obvious attempt to pretend that Edmonds, as BNP national organiser, is "respectable" as opposed to some of his more excitable young members.
The jury didn't believe a word of it. But the judge, in effect, just gave Edmonds a ticking off - something that almost certainly would not have happened to a black person convicted of a violent crime in a Crown court.