Suspended Labour councillor found not guilty of encouraging violence after calling for Southport protesters to have 'throat slit'

The Dartford councillor, who has since been suspended by the Labour Party, denied the charge.

Mr Jones also described demonstrators as “disgusting Nazi fascists”.

The councillor was captured in a video addressing crowds on Hoe Street in Walthamstow, east London, on August 7 last year.

The counter-protest had been set up in response to plans for an anti-immigration march outside Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau.

He said: “They are disgusting Nazi fascists. We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.”

He also drew his finger across his throat as he spoke to the crowd.

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He added: “I just wanna say thank you all, I’m gonna leave it there.”

The man then led a "Free Palestine" chant before adding: “Thank you, God bless you all.”

Mr Jones was found not guilty after jurors deliberated for just over half an hour.

The now suspended Labour official for Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) union was arrested on August 8 last year and interviewed at Brixton police station that night.

Following the incident, a Labour Party spokesperson told GB News: "This behaviour is completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated. The councillor has been suspended from the party.”

On Friday, Prosecutor Ben Holt previously told the court Mr Jones used "inflammatory, rabble-rousing language in the throng of a crowd described as a tinderbox".

He told jurors Jones’s speech was amplified through a microphone and speakers and took place "in a setting where violence could readily have been anticipated".

During the trial, Jones said his comments referred to a group of people who had reportedly left National Front stickers on a train with razor blades hidden behind them, rather than those attending the anti-immigration protest.

WATCH: The moment Labour's Ricky Jones calls for protesters' throats to be cut at rally

Jurors were shown video where he said to crowds: "You’ve got women and children using these trains during the summer holidays.

"They don’t give a shit about who they hurt."

Mr Jones told the court he was "appalled" by political violence, adding: "I’ve always believed the best way to make people realise who you are and what you are is to do it peacefully."

The verdict has sparked criticism online, with many comparing the charges with those of Lucy Connolly, who was imprisoned for 31 months in October after being found guilty of inciting racial hatred following the Southport murders.

Taking to X, the wife of an ex-Tory councillor called for "mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******** for all I care, while you’re at it take the treacherous government politicians with them."

She added: "I feel physically sick knowing what these [Southport] families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.”

The post was viewed more than 300,000 times before she deleted it.

The mother claimed that the Southport murders triggered memories of the death of her own child.

Tory MP James Cleverly reacted to the verdict on social media, expressing his outrage at the decision.

He wrote: "This is unacceptable. Perverse decisions like this are adding to the anger that people feel and amplifying the belief that there isn’t a dispassionate criminal justice system."

The Chair of Reform UK's DOGE Unit, Zia Yusuf, wrote: "The UK is now a country in which those who have the correct ‘regime’ political views can openly call for their political opponents to be brutally murdered, be filmed doing so, and face no criminal consequence.

"A watershed moment in British politics."

Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: "It is astonishing that this Labour councillor who was caught on video calling for throats to be slit is let off scot free, whereas Lucy Connolly got 31 months in prison for posting something no worse.

"The development of two-tier justice is becoming increasingly alarming.

"It cannot have been a question of uncertain evidence as the man was on video clearly calling for violence.

"The Government must come forward with plans to ensure justice is handed out equally, regardless of the background or views of the perpetrator - but as far as I can see, this Labour government seems to be quite happy with two-tier justice.”