Britain First leader Paul Golding arrives at court supported by Tommy Robinson to face terror trial for refusing to give police his phone’s PIN code at Heathrow
- The 38-year-old was pictured making victory symbols alongside the EDL founder
- He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London ahead of half-day trial
- Golding denied a terrorism offence in February after he got arrested at Heathrow
- He was accused of refusing to provide officers access to his electronic devices
Britain First leader Paul Golding today arrived at court with Tommy Robinson to face a charge under the Terrorism Act.
The 38-year-old made victory symbols alongside the English Defence League founder at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London ahead of the half-day trial.
A huge police presence lined the street outside the court and officers also flanked the defendant.
Golding denied a terrorism offence in February after he was arrested by anti-terror police at Heathrow on his way back from a trip to Russia in October.
Britain First leader Paul Golding today arrived at court in London to face a charge under the Terrorism Act
Golding was pictured flanked by officers (left) and was joined by English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson (right)
He is accused of refusing to provide officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command access to his electronic devices.
The former BNP councillor, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, was then charged with refusing to comply with a duty under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act.
Golding entered a not guilty plea, before branding the charge ‘politically motivated’ at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in February.
The 38-year-old made victory symbols (pictured) alongside the English Defence League founder at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London ahead of the half-day trial
Wearing a grey suit, red tie, and Britain First pin on his lapel, he then added: ‘I’m a politician, not a terrorist.’
Speaking outside the court in February, Golding called the charge ‘the first time laws and powers designed to stop terrorists have been used in a politically-motivated fashion against a political activist’.
He added: ‘There’s a lot going to be revealed when we get our hands on the audio that I was under no suspicion of anything to do with terrorism whatsoever.
‘They simply laid a trap for me to try and prosecute me like they’ve done. This is pure politically motivated harassment of a politician.’
Britain First was de-registered as a political party in November 2017.
Golding reportedly led a small Britain First delegation to meet with Russian media and visit the Parliament, or Duma, in Moscow last year.
A Britain First press release from the time described Russia as a ‘patriotic, nationalist country that promotes all the traditionalist, Christian and Western values’.
The delegation said it met with MPs from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, while Golding appeared on the state-owned Russia 24 channel.
Robinson arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London to support Golding today
On an inbound flight in October, he and two other suspects were arrested by specialist Met police officers at Heathrow Airport.
They were questioned under terror laws, while police seized and sought to obtain access to their phones, computers, and hard-drives.
When Golding refused to give up the passwords to his devices, he was charged with a refusal to comply with Schedule 7.
This allows police officers to interrogate, search and detain any suspect for up to six hours at British ports.
Schedule 7 is designed to determine whether an individual is involved in the ‘commission, preparation or instigation’ of acts of terrorism.
In a prior statement, Golding described the charge as ‘an abuse of legislation’.