Labour councillor’s cutting throats comment at rally ‘out of character’ – friend

Suspended Labour councillor Ricky Jones leaves Snaresbrook Crown Court, east London, where he is charged with encouraging violence while addressing a crowd during an anti-fascist protest in Walthamstow (Yui Mok/PA) - (PA Wire)

A friend of a Labour councillor who called for far-right protesters’ throats to be cut at an anti-racism rally said the language he used was “completely out of character”, a court has heard.

In the wake of rioting following the Southport murders, Ricky Jones, 58, described demonstrators as “disgusting Nazi fascists”, his trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.