Sunderland Reform UK city councillor Glenn Gibbins avoids jail after suggesting that Nigerians should be melted down to fill in potholes

Glenn Gibbins, 66, was accused by prosecutors of “dehumanising” Nigerians in a post on March 19, 2024, after drinking beer at home.

A judge has now ruled the divorced dad had directly targeted them in words that suggested they should be “eradicated”.

Gibbins, of Briery Vale Road, Ashbrooke, wrote: “Carnt believe amount of nigerians in town…should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes!!”

His message was spotted by anti-extremism group Hope Not Hate over two years later and just six days before May’s local elections.

It sent a screenshot to Green Party election candidate Heidi Tolson, who reported him to police, sparking an investigation.

Gibbins denied a charge of sending by public communication network a grossly offensive message but was found guilty after a two-hour trial at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

District Judge Zoe Passfield sentenced him to a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work.

She said: “There was only one context and that was a post on a public Facebook page that directly targeted an ethnic group that removes them from society and fills potholes.

“I’ve no doubt that Mr Gibbins intended when writing the post to be grossly offensive to the Nigerian community in Sunderland, due to his displeasure at the number of Nigerian people living in the town.

“It’s inconceivable that the post could have any other purpose.”

Opening the case, prosecutor Emma Dowling said: “The comment about melting them down conjures up despicable images.

“It implies that Nigerians are somewhat less than human, stripping people in that group of humanity.

“It’s a dehumanising measure and stripping this group of any dignity, the implication that they are somehow less than human.”

Gibbins, who won a seat in the Hylton Castle ward at May's elections, took to the witness box to insist he had not intended to be offensive or to risk harm being inflicted on Nigerians.

Questioned by defence barrister Adam King, he described the bizarre way he became a Reform councillor.

A local party member saw a mannequin wearing a Nigel Farage T-shirt on his printing business stall in The Bridges shopping centre.

It had been ordered by a boozed-up punter from a local pub who had forgotten to come back to claim it.

He also said he campaigned to be a councillor when he realised it came with allowances, something he admitted would supplement his business during its slack summer season.

Gibbins said: “I didn’t know that councillors got paid and I thought ‘this will tie me over’ when I’m not working in The Bridges. I was looking at a part-time job anyway.”

He insisted he had previously only just a passing interest in politics and knew little about immigration issues, adding he had campaigned on local issues and about how Labour had run the city down while in power.

When asked by Mr King the background to the message, he said a group of Nigerians had visited his stall that day and asked if they could buy his printer and other work kit.

He went home and “had a couple of beers and flicked through Facebook as you do” and saw a similarly worded post by someone else.

Gibbins said: “I tried to share it, I’m not technical. I pressed the button and it disappeared and then I just remembered it and wrote it out myself and sent it, posted it.”

When asked if he had thought the message offensive at the time, he replied: “Not at all, I thought it’s just tongue in cheek and that no one would take it seriously.

“Two years later, people are using it in the wrong context. I apologised at the time to people and I apologise now.”

He said he had contacted the Nigerian Community Sunderland support group directly online to say that he wished to meet up to explain.

Gibbins said he felt obliged to apologise but, despite its president Godwin Ejeh replying, they made no further contact.

He accepted his Facebook page was not set to private but said that did not matter as only about 40 friends followed him.

Cross examined by Ms Dowling, he insisted: “It would make no sense to be grossly offensive to people who buy from me”.

He also denied he was suggesting people should be killed and said: “I thought it was amusing at the time. I thought I’d post it just for fun.

“It was an unreal scenario, no one took it seriously. You can’t melt people down, nobody would take it literally.”

Also giving evidence, Mr Ejeh said he became aware of the post in May and had sought an apology from Gibbons.

When that came to nothing, he and about six other “distressed” Nigerians protested outside Sunderland City Council's HQ.

Gibbins must also pay £650 court costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

Reform UK have been contacted for their reaction to the verdict and to outline Gibbins’ future with the party.