Paul Golding, 36, and Jayda Fransen, 31, were convicted of religiously-aggravated harassment at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court in Kent today

Britain First’s leader Paul Golding and deputy leader Jayda Fransen have been found guilty of religiously-aggravated harassment.

Golding, 36, and Fransen, 31, were convicted of the hate crime – which they had denied – at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court in Kent today.

They were found guilty of a first charge of religiously-aggravated harassment by a judge – but were both cleared of a second charge.

Golding was also found not guilty of a third charge. However, Fransen was convicted of both this charge and a fourth one concerning only her.

The pair had earlier arrived at the court, surrounded by a large entourage, with the far-right group’s leader flashing the V-sign at cameras.

Golding had been charged with three counts of religiously aggravated harassment, while his deputy was accused of four offences.

The pair had denied all of the charges against them.

But this afternoon, Golding was convicted of one and Fransen was convicted of three counts at the court, where they had earlier stood trial.

In delivering his judgment, the judge said the two defendants were “well-known”, “controversial” and “generate their own publicity”.

Judge Justin Barron said the court received a number of emails in support of and against Golding and Fransen. But he said his verdicts were based “solely on admissible evidence heard in court”.

He told the court the pair’s words and actions “demonstrated hostility” towards Muslims and the Muslim faith.

The public gallery was packed with more than a dozen Britain First supporters as the verdicts were announced.

Golding and Fransen had been arrested in May last year over the distribution of leaflets and posting of online videos during a trial at Canterbury Crown Court, where three Muslim men and a teenager were convicted of rape and jailed.

Fransen was accused of going to the Kent home of one of the defendants, Tamin Rahmani, and shouting racist abuse through the front door.

Rahmani’s pregnant partner, Kelli Best, said she was alone with their two children, aged three years and 18 months, at the time of the incident on May 9, 2017.

Two days later, she began bleeding heavily and her daughter was stillborn.

At a previous hearing, Folkestone Magistrates’ Court heard that the grieving mum blamed Fransen’s racial abuse for the tragedy.

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britain-first-leader-deputy-leader-12143720?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=EM_Mirror_Nletter_DailyNews_News_smallteaser_Image_Story&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter