Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen blamed for baby’s stillbirth, court hears
A mother-of-two has told a court she blames Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen for her daughter’s stillbirth. Kelli Best says she lost her child two days after Fransen shouted “racist” remarks through her letterbox.
Fransen is accused of hate crimes alongside leader of the far-right party Paul Golding, 36. The pair deny all charges.
Golding and Fransen were arrested over the alleged distribution of leaflets and online videos which were posted during the trial of three Muslim men and a teen, who were later convicted of rape.
Fransen went to the home of one of the defendants, Tamin Rahmani, and shouted abuse through the front door, Folkestone Magistrates’ Court heard on Tuesday. His partner, Best, said she was alone with their two children – aged three and 18 months – when the incident happened last year.
She told the court she was pregnant at the time and blames Fransen for the death of her stillborn daughter.
“She was making racist remarks: ‘Dirty Muslim rapist, come out, we're not going to leave until you're gone, come out. Dirty scumbags,’” Best said.
“It was directed at Tamin because she thought he was in there but he wasn't… I was also pregnant at the time it happened, two days after I started to bleed heavily and lost my daughter, she was stillborn. I blame Jayda Fransen because there was no other reason for it to happen."
A video played in court showed Fransen banging on the door of the Kent property and shouting: “Come out and face me you disgusting rapist.” Best sat shaking and crying in the witness stand as the footage was played.
Best added the incident has scarred her son to the point that he still gets frightened when people knock at their door. “He would make remarks saying. ‘I’m not dirty,’ it’s really affected him.”
Fransen was previously convicted of racially aggravated harassment relating to an incident in January 2016 involving a “Christian patrol,” the court heard.
She approached a woman in Luton town center and told her she “had been hidden because your men can’t control their urges” and “you cover because you don’t want to be raped,” Prosecutor Madeleine Wolf said.
Golding has a previous conviction for harassing a person in their home relating to an incident in January 2015, the court heard.
He told a woman living there that her son was a terrorist and that “we want to evict him, we don’t want him to live there,” Wolf said.
Fransen is charged with four counts of religiously aggravated harassment and Golding with three counts.
The trial continues.
