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Viscount who was jailed over Gina Miller threats drops his appeal Viscount who was jailed over Gina Miller threats drops his appeal
(about 1 hour later)
The man jailed for offering £5,000 to anyone willing to kill Gina Miller, whose court victory forced the government to consult parliament over Brexit, has dropped his appeal over his 12-week sentence.The man jailed for offering £5,000 to anyone willing to kill Gina Miller, whose court victory forced the government to consult parliament over Brexit, has dropped his appeal over his 12-week sentence.
The fourth Viscount St Davids, Rhodri Philipps, was sentenced on 13 July for “extreme racial abuse” of Miller and another man in a series of Facebook posts, having been convicted of sending malicious communications. The 4th Viscount St Davids, Rhodri Philipps, was sentenced on 13 July for “extreme racial abuse” of Miller and another man in a series of Facebook posts, having been convicted of sending malicious communications.
On Friday, he dropped his appeal after being warned his sentence could be increased if he continued and was ultimately unsuccessful. Philipps served only five days of his sentence before being released on bail while his appeal was pending. On Friday, he dropped his appeal after being warned his sentence could be increased if he continued and was ultimately unsuccessful. Philipps served only five days of his jail term before being released on bail while his appeal was pending.
Deborah Taylor, the recorder of Westminster sitting at Southwark crown court, said: “In those circumstances the sentence which was imposed at magistrates courts in full will [re] commence from today.” Deborah Taylor, the recorder of Westminster sitting at Southwark crown court, said: “In those circumstances the sentence which was imposed at magistrates courts in full will [re]commence from today.”
More details soon … Philipps initially planned to appeal his conviction and was granted bail until his case could be heard. He dropped that appeal on 1 August but, until Friday, still planned to attempt to get his sentence reduced.
During the hearing at Southwark, his barrister, Oliver Blunt QC, told the judge: “Despite the number of character references and medical reports which my lady has been kind enough to indicate that you and your fellow judges have read in detail, and will no doubt have been moved by the aspects of the material contained within and the sentiments of the more positive aspects of this appellant’s character, the appeal against sentence is abandoned.”
On top of his return to jail and the £865 he was ordered to pay in compensation, surcharge and costs at his sentencing, Philipps was ordered to pay a further £500 in costs at the abandonment of his appeal.
He was convicted over online racist attacks on Miller, who was born in Guyana, and another man, Cameroon-born Arnold Sube.
Miller had said the abuse was “genuinely shocking” and left her feeling “violated” and “very scared for the safety of herself and her family”. She had been “subject of a vicious hate campaign and vilified on social media outlets”, as well as “racial and offensive personal slurs”, according to a statement read by Philip Stott, the prosecutor at Philipps’ trial.
Stott said: “In addition to finding it offensive, racist and hateful, [Miller] was extremely concerned that someone would threaten to have her run over for a bounty. He added that Miller “took the threat seriously, and it contributed to her employing professional security for her protection”.
Referring to the Brexit campaigner shortly after her court victory, Philipps had offered “£5,000 for the first person to ‘accidentally’ run over this bloody troublesome first-generation immigrant”. He also called her a “boat jumper”, adding: “If this is what we should expect from immigrants, send them back to their stinking jungles.”
Sentencing him, senior district judge Emma Arbuthnot said: “Why public figures deserve this warped behaviour is beyond me.” She said he had displayed hatred by “publicly directing abuse at others, which is a criminal offence in this multicultural society we are fortunate to live in”.
She accepted Philipps’ apology, delivered in mitigation after his conviction, but said she found it difficult to believe he had changed his views on race in such a short space of time.