Ex-Britain first leader Paul Golding jailed for breaching court order
THE former leader of Britain First has been jailed for eight weeks for breaching a court order not to enter a mosque or encourage others to do so.
Britain First leader facing six months in prison
Paul Golding, 34, who recently stepped down as head of the group for family reasons, admitted contempt of court.
London's High Court heard that nine days after the injunction - which prohibited entering any mosque in England and Wales without prior invitation - was imposed in August this year, Golding drove four Britain First members to the Al-Manar Centre in Cardiff for a "mosque invasion".
Golding stayed outside and there was no violence but there was a verbal confrontation between his four colleagues and a mosque trustee.
Paul Goulding faces four weeks of jail-time after having been found in breach of his court order
James Weston, the counsel for the Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police who brought the committal application, said that members of the mosque found the conduct provocative and unnerving and were concerned that it could have escalated if prayers had not been over.
Sentencing Golding today, Judge Moloney said the breach was a "deliberate and cynical defiance" of the court's order as well as an affront to the Muslim community not merely in Cardiff but throughout the country where Britain First might circulate its propaganda.
Golding will serve four weeks of the sentence.