Glenn Gibbins, 66, avoided jail after a district judge found his post was grossly offensive. He called it a “tongue-in-cheek” joke and intends to appeal.
Sunderland City councillor Glenn Gibbins, who has been suspended by Reform UK, has been convicted of sending a malicious communication over a Facebook post about Nigerians. The 66-year-old was sentenced at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court to a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. He had written that Nigerians should be “melted down” to fill potholes. His legal team said he intends to appeal to the Crown Court at a later date.
The post and how it came to light
Mr Gibbins posted on his public Facebook profile in March 2024, two years before he was elected. It read: “Carnt believe the amount of nigerians in town… should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes!!”
The post was exposed when the campaign group Hope Not Hate went through his social media ahead of the local elections. Reform UK suspended him after it came to light.
The prosecution case
Prosecuting, Emma Dowling said: “The comment about melting them down conjures up despicable images.” She told the court it implied that Nigerians were “somewhat less than human, stripping people in that group of humanity”. The post, she said, was shared “for no reason whatsoever other than to offend and humiliate people from Nigeria who live in Sunderland”, and was grossly offensive and dehumanising.
Godwin Ejeh, a community leader for Nigerians in Sunderland, gave evidence. He told the court he led a protest outside City Hall on the day Mr Gibbins should have been sworn in, in the hope that the councillor would apologise. Mr Gibbins did not attend the ceremony. Mr Ejeh, who stood as a Liberal Democrat councillor in the May elections, denied trying to gain political capital. “We are talking about humanity here, it’s way beyond politics,” he said.
He told the court that Nigerians in the city were “distressed” for their own safety and that of their children. In a victim impact statement, he said: “Comments that were said to be a big joke have had a great impact on my community and I believe this is not something a human should have to put up with.”
“A bit naughty”
Mr Gibbins, a divorced former salesman who runs a stall in Sunderland city centre printing novelty gifts, told the court: “I thought it was a tongue-in-cheek joke. It was an unreal scenario. No-one took it literally.”
He said that on the day he made the post, some Nigerians had approached his stall at the Bridges shopping centre about buying some of his printing equipment. He recalled having “banter” with them and said the conversation was good fun. That night, after “a couple of cans of beer”, he saw a Facebook post about Nigerians, tried and failed to share it, and typed it out himself.
Asked what reaction he intended, he said: “It was tongue-in-cheek, a bit naughty, but I thought it was fun.” Of the earlier encounter, he said: “They had done my head in, in a funny way not a bad way.” Asked what was funny about the post, he replied: “It’s an unreal scenario, you cannot melt people down, anyone that takes that literally… you cannot do that.” He added: “I wouldn’t dream of joking about killing people.”
He said he was not particularly political. When Reform UK approached him about becoming a councillor in March this year, he thought it would be a source of income “to tide me over” when business was quieter in the summer. He said he enjoyed helping residents during the short period before his suspension.
The defence case
Adam King, defending, described the post as “unfunny” and “an unpleasant joke/non-joke”. He said professional comedians had made jokes that were arguably as offensive without being prosecuted. As examples, he cited Jo Brand joking about throwing acid on Nigel Farage and Jimmy Carr joking about gypsies in the Holocaust.
After the conviction, Mr King said Mr Gibbins had lost his concession at the shopping centre. “Financially, he is on his uppers,” he told the court. He said his client had suffered from media scrutiny, including equalities minister Bridget Phillipson discussing the case with two million people on Laura Kuenssberg’s BBC programme.
The sentence
District Judge Zoe Passfield found the post was not merely offensive but grossly so. She noted that Mr Gibbins now accepted it was offensive, though not grossly so, and still maintained it was a joke. She said he had no previous convictions, had not offended in the more than two years since the post, and that she had read character references in his support.
The judge said she had considered his right to free expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, but concluded the post was not a genuine expression of political views. Mr Gibbins must pay £650 in court costs and a £114 surcharge. The judge made no compensation order.
Political reaction
Bridget Phillipson, described in the source as Labour Party chairwoman, called the verdict “damning” and said it “confirms Reform’s ranks are riddled with blatant racism”. “Acknowledging this isn’t a matter of party politics, it’s about basic decency,” she said.
She added: “Reform knew Gibbins had made these comments, but they allowed him to stand to represent Sunderland. Rather than acting to root out racism, it took a police investigation to force Gibbins out of the party.” She said Reform UK were “drowning in sleaze and scandal” and had “time and again” shown they were “not fit for office”. The source includes no response from Reform UK to her comments.
