Race abuse conviction 'landmark'

[This Guy]

"An anti-racism body has described the conviction of a BNP member for racial abuse despite the victim not coming forward as a "landmark" case. "

"McGlynn, 40, was convicted after the only witness to the incident, Lydia Rees saw him shouting abuse at a traditionally-clothed Asian woman in the Hafod area of Swansea on 13 June this year. "

"Mrs Rees, 43, told magistrates she was shocked to hear him shout "Sieg Heil" and other abuse at the woman through his open car window."

"She added: "But I could not swear to the words I did hear.""

"Convicting McGlynn, magistrates said that Mrs Rees' evidence had been "compelling".

McGlynn was fined £200 and ordered to pay £200 costs. "

Full story - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/5368640.stm

Thoughts?

[Katana]

I find that story disturbing. No victim, a witness who cannot swear to what she heard, and, frankly, no evidence of criminal activity. Shouting racist comments is to be condemned, but I would hardly call it a crime.

[This Guy]

I find that story disturbing. No victim, a witness who cannot swear to what she heard, and, frankly, no evidence of criminal activity.

Those are the things that bother me also.

I tried to find more info, but I didn't have any luck. Maybe others can.

Google did return a link to a "Stormfront" page. I didn't bother looking at it though.

I would agree that people have the right to walk down the street without being harassed. But for someone not involved to instigate charges, and get a conviction based on testimony that they "could not swear to" seems a bit scary.

Being in the US, I'm not familiar with British law, but I would think something like this could be appealed. I hope so anyway.

EDIT TO ADD:Since it was noted that the convicted was a member of the BNP, I thought perhaps it was a political thing. One party going after another (though it doesn't say what, if any political affiliation Rees has). I looked up BNP. It appears their members would be prime candidates to do such a thing (yell at an Asian woman). Still, the whole conviction on verbal testimony that the witness sounds unsure of, is scary to me.

BNP info for others not in the know - http://www.bnp.org.uk/ They have an INFO pack you can download. It's basically a small WEB site that has an FAQ and such, in ZIP format.

[Darth Rotor]

""McGlynn, 40, was convicted after the only witness to the incident, Lydia Rees saw him shouting abuse at a traditionally-clothed Asian woman in the Hafod area of Swansea on 13 June this year. "

"Mrs Rees, 43, told magistrates she was shocked to hear him shout "Sieg Heil" and other abuse at the woman through his open car window."

"She added: "But I could not swear to the words I did hear.""

"Convicting McGlynn, magistrates said that Mrs Rees' evidence had been "compelling".

McGlynn was fined £200 and ordered to pay £200 costs. "
Thoughts?
Blackstone (http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/blackstone/) spins in his grave.

DR