BNP member put anti-Islamic posters in window

Darren Conway covered the window of his ground floor flat with posters and photographs which attacked the Prophet Mohammed and the Muslim religion.

Conway, a former BNP member and supporter of the English Defence League, attracted comments from passers by and workers at nearby businesses.

Edward Johnson, prosecuting, told Lincoln magistrates on Monday: “Displayed in the window were items that were grossly offensive towards the Muslim faith. There were quite a number of them.”

Police visited his home following a complaint by a shop worker and after taking down the material they arrested Conway.

Conway ,44, of Heaton Street, Gainsborough, denied displaying religiously aggravated hate material on 16th April last year but was convicted following a short trial.

Conway, who told the court he has since quit the BNP, said the material was printed off Facebook.

He said he put the posters and other literature in his window simply to attract the attention of the letting agent for his flat with whom he was in dispute.

Conway claimed he had been left for months without electricity in three rooms and described the flat as uninhabitable with mould on the walls.

He said: “I had no intention of offending anyone. I have no problem with Muslims as people although I believe the Islamic faith is very much flawed.”

Deputy District Judge David Murray ruled that his powers of sentencing were insufficient and committed Conway to Lincoln Crown Court where he will be sentenced at a later date.

The judge told Conway, who is a carer for his elderly dad: “I don’t find your explanation plausible.”