UK politician sentenced over post saying Nigerians in the UK should be melted down to fill potholes

• Sunderland councillor Glenn Gibbins received a 12-month community order and 150 hours of unpaid work.

• He was convicted over a Facebook post suggesting Nigerians in the city should be melted down to fill potholes.

• Reform UK expelled him after the verdict, while Gibbins' legal team says he intends to appeal.

Glenn Gibbins, 66, has been given a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work, and Reform UK has since expelled him.

A Sunderland city councillor, Glenn Gibbins, has been convicted of a malicious communication over a Facebook post about the city's Nigerian community.

The verdict came on Monday, 9 November, at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court. District Judge Zoe Passfield sentenced him to a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. He will not be jailed.

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The court heard that Gibbins posted in March 2024 that Nigerians in the city centre should be melted down to fill potholes. The judge described it as a grossly offensive comment about Nigerians in Sunderland and about Gibbins' views on whether they count as human beings.

Gibbins, a divorced former salesman who runs a novelty-gift printing stall in the city centre, told the court it was a tongue-in-cheek joke and an unreal scenario. The judge rejected that argument.

The post surfaced two years after it was written, when Gibbins was elected in May to represent the Hylton Castle ward. Anti-extremism group Hope Not Hate reportedly found it while going through his social media after he was announced as a Reform UK candidate.

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Reform UK suspended him in May, the same month he was elected, but later reinstated him with a final written warning. He was suspended again in August after police charged him. Following the verdict, the party confirmed it had expelled him.

Godwin Ejeh, a leader of Sunderland's Nigerian community, told the court he led a protest outside City Hall when Gibbins was due to be sworn in, hoping for an apology. He said the community felt deeply distressed about its safety and that the matter went beyond ordinary politics.

Gibbins' legal team says he intends to appeal to the crown court.