A 66-year-old United Kingdom councillor, Glenn Gibbins, has been convicted by a court over a Facebook post in which he suggested that Nigerians living in Sunderland should be melted down and used to fill potholes.
Gibbins, a suspended member of the Reform UK party, was found guilty of making a grossly offensive communication following a three-hour trial at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.
He was sentenced by District Judge Zoe Passfield to a 12-month community order, which includes 150 hours of unpaid work.
According to a report by Chronicle Live, the controversial post was published in March 2024, two years before Gibbins was elected to Sunderland City Council.
In the post, he wrote: “Can’t believe the amount of Nigerians in town… should melt them all down and fill in the potholes!!”
The comments came to public attention after the anti-racism organisation, Hope Not Hate, reviewed his social media activities when he was announced as a Reform UK candidate for the council election.
Authorities were reportedly alerted after his election in May, while Reform UK subsequently suspended him.
During the trial, prosecutor Emma Dowling described the statement as dehumanising, arguing that it portrayed Nigerians as less than human.
She told the court that the suggestion of melting Nigerians down conjured up “despicable images” and stripped members of the Nigerian community of their humanity.
A Nigerian community leader in Sunderland, Godwin Ejeh, also testified that he organised a protest outside the City Hall on the day Gibbins was expected to be sworn in as a councillor.
Ejeh said the protest was intended to compel Gibbins to apologise for the remarks. However, the councillor had already been suspended by his party and did not attend the ceremony.
Ejeh, who contested the May council election on the platform of the Liberal Democrats, denied that the protest was politically motivated.
“We are talking about humanity here; it’s way beyond politics,” he told the court.
In his defence, Gibbins maintained that the Facebook post was intended as a joke and was never meant to be taken literally.
He explained that he had interacted with some Nigerians who visited his business stall at the Bridges shopping centre in Sunderland to enquire about purchasing some of his printing equipment.
According to him, their interaction involved friendly banter.
He told the court that later that evening, after drinking a couple of cans of beer, he came across a Facebook post about Nigerians which he unsuccessfully attempted to share.
He subsequently typed out the message himself and published it on his public profile.
When asked about his intention, Gibbins described the comment as “tongue-in-cheek” and said he considered it a bit naughty but amusing.
He also insisted that he would never joke about killing people, arguing that melting human beings was an unrealistic scenario.
Defence counsel Adam King described the statement as an unpleasant and unfunny joke, while drawing comparisons with controversial jokes made by comedians Jo Brand and Jimmy Carr.
However, the court ruled that Gibbins’ comments crossed the threshold of what could reasonably be considered grossly offensive.
Reacting to the conviction, Christopher Atkinson of the Crown Prosecution Service in the North East said racially charged and grossly offensive remarks could cross the boundary between freedom of expression and criminal behaviour.
He warned social media users against publishing similar comments, stressing that such statements could be upsetting and dehumanising to affected communities.
Gibbins’ legal team indicated that he intended to appeal the conviction at the Crown Court.
