UK councillor convicted over call to ‘melt’ Nigerians

Glenn Gibbins, a 66-year-old Sunderland councillor, has been convicted for "grossly offensive" remarks he made about the city's Nigerian community on Facebook in March 2024.

The court found Gibbins guilty after a three-hour trial at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court, sentencing him to a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. District Judge Zoe Passfield stated that the comments suggested Nigerians were "somewhat less than human" and implied they were "dehumanising".

Gibbins admitted his comments were offensive but denied they were "grossly offensive". He told the court he thought the post was a "tongue-in-cheek joke" and it was "unreal scenario". He claimed the interaction with Nigerians he met at his stall was "good-natured" and that he had exchanged banter with them at his stall the day he made the post.

The prosecution argued that the post was "grossly offensive" and "dehumanising" and was shared for no reason other than to offend and humiliate Nigerians living in Sunderland. They said racially charged and grossly offensive comments of this nature cross the line between free speech and criminal behaviour. Gibbins' defence counsel argued that similar jokes had not been prosecuted, and the nature of Gibbins' remarks crossed the threshold of being "grossly offensive" to reasonable members of the public.