Ex-Royal Marine is cleared in simply 17 minutes of stirring up racial hatred on Facebook following Southport murders after spending 20 days remanded in jail

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An ex-Royal Marine, who was additionally an apprentice at Manchester United, was cleared by a jury in simply 17 minutes after being accused of stirring up racial hatred on-line. 

Jamie Michael, 46, from Penygraig, southeast Wales, served within the Iraq War and was twice despatched to Sierra Leone as a peacekeeper. 

The former serviceman was remanded in jail for 20 days after the choice was made to prosecute him for a 12-minute-long clip he posted to Facebook on July 31 final 12 months entitled ‘This is what I feel,’ The Telegraph reported. 

The put up was made two days after the homicide of three younger women in Southport by Axel Rudakubana, amid a local weather of common unrest over immigration.  

In the clip, which has been seen by greater than 16,000 individuals, Mr Michael, who now works as a therapeutic massage therapist, urged individuals ‘to prepare’ however harassed that he wasn’t referring to violent assaults.

He mentioned: ‘We want to start out organizing. Which doesn’t suggest getting bats and knives and going doing what they [the rioters] are doing. 

‘I’m speaking about doing issues the appropriate manner, getting in huge teams, having conferences, and going to the council and the police and politicians.’ 

However, Mr Michael now acknowledges that a few of his views had been expressed ‘clumsily’.

Jamie Michael, 46, from Penygraig, southeast Wales, served within the Iraq War and was twice despatched to Sierra Leone as a peacekeeper

The former serviceman was remanded in jail for 20 days after the choice was made to prosecute him for a 12-minute-long monologue he posted to Facebook on July 31 final 12 months giving his ideas on immigration and the Southport assaults 

Mr Michael was unanimously acquitted by a jury in solely 17 minutes at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on February 04

In the video he described newly-arrived immigrants as ‘psychopaths’, including; ‘We have to ensure that none of those scumbags come into our valley and settle right here, making issues unsafe for our kids.’

He additionally spoke about holding native Labour councillors ‘personally accountable if something occurs to our little ones’. 

His video was reported to police by a staffer from the workplace of Buffy Williams, a Labour member of the Senedd – the Welsh Parliament. 

Speaking now, Mr Michael advised The Telegraph: ‘It was as a result of I expressed my worry [that] the Labour Party helps extra migration that I feel the video was seen as politically motivated.’

The father-of-two now says he feels betrayed by his nation and feels his freedom of speech is underneath risk from what he perceives as a ‘two-tier’ authorized system that punishes those that ‘spoke out’.

Mr Michael was arrested on August 9 and held in police custody for 3 days earlier than showing earlier than magistrates, the place he was denied bail – regardless of his solely earlier conviction being for a driving offence 14 years prior.   

‘Apparently I used to be more likely to commit ‘additional offences’ – it was recommended I even had terrorism intentions,’ he mentioned. ‘It was all a shock – I [had] by no means seen the within of a jail.’ 

He hit all-time low when he needed to sing Happy Birthday to his nine-year-old daughter down the telephone from jail. 

Mr Michael served in Iraq in 2003, and had two stints as a peacekeeper in Sierra Leone earlier than later working in non-public safety in Iraq and Afghanistan

Jamie Michael (left) now says he feels betrayed by his nation and that his freedom of speech is underneath risk from what he perceives as a ‘two-tier’ authorized system that punishes those that ‘spoke out’

A screenshot from the Facebook put up that led to Mr Michael’s prosecution 

His trial occurred at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, which heard how he had been an apprentice footballer with Manchester United, Oxford United, and Cardiff City earlier than becoming a member of the Royal Marines.

He served in Iraq in 2003, and later working in non-public safety in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was identified with a uncommon type of blood most cancers in 2014, the BBC mentioned.

Mr Michael insists that he’s not racist. His authorized charges had been paid for by the Free Speech Union (FSU), who additionally organized for him to be represented by solicitor Luke Gittos and barrister Adam King.

Prosecutors claimed his language was ‘unrelentingly adverse’ in direction of migrants, however Mr King mentioned it was ‘past apparent’ that Mr Michael was not referring to all migrants however solely violent ones in his monologue. 

On Tuesday February 4 he was acquited by a jury at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court who unanimously cleared him of the cost. 

When the jury left to deliberate, the ex-army man mentioned he was introduced a cup of tea anticipating an extended wait – just for them to return solely a fraction over 1 / 4 of an hour later to acquit him. 

Mr Michael mentioned: ‘When I voiced my opinions, the total pressure of the regulation got here down upon me. Millions of different individuals have the identical considerations about unvetted and unchecked males coming into the nation after throwing away their passports.

‘I feel there are a lot of individuals in jail in the present day who should not be there.’

Mr Michael’s trial occurred at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, the place he was acquitted by a jury in 17 minutes

 Bizarrely, regardless of his prosecution the video has but to be taken down from Facebook the place it now has greater than 16,000 views. 

A spokesperson for the Free Speech Union mentioned: ‘Everyone on the FSU is delighted by Jamie’s acquittal. The choice to prosecute him was an assault on free speech.

‘Jamie had urged individuals to protest peacefully, but discovered himself going through the prospect of imprisonment for expressing views that – nonetheless objectionable to some Welsh Labour politicians – had been lawful.’

Elizabeth ‘Buffy’ Williams, Labour Member of the Senedd for Rhondda, mentioned in a press release that a number of residents had flagged the video to her staff and that her staff had adopted the standard protocols round such experiences. 

‘It isn’t as much as me to determine what’s proper and what’s unsuitable, neither is it as much as my staff, and that’s completely the way it must be,’ she added.

‘I need to be completely clear – this case has been dealt with no in another way from some other delivered to my workplace. My staff and I adopted the identical procedures we at all times do when residents increase considerations with us.’

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