Richard Bridge. "It appears that the BNP turned up unprepared in court, so there has been an adjournment to I think Oct 16 - but the BNP will ahve to pay te Commission's costs of today. Har-de-har."

Snap. Peter Tierney, a paid up BNP activist, and about as unpleasant an individual as you'd never wish to meet was up before the magistrates in August on a charge of assault. When the court convened, his solicitor asked for an adjournment because he hadn't had chance to study the CCTV footage. His case re-comes up tomorrow.

The BNP are having quite a time of it in the courts lately. Yesterday there was the conviction of ex-member Matthew Single, for leaking the membership list. Today the leadership is being prosecuted for its whites only membership rule. And tomorrow, as I said, there is the case of the said Mr Tierney.

Incidentally, having led a quiet law abiding life, I'm not entirely sure how to read this, but the creep wasn't just freed after he was charged. He was released on bail. Moreover, a condition of his bail was that he has to stay out of city centre where the attack took place. Also, on releasing him, the police hung onto his clothes (for forensic analysis presumably), and sent him home in a prisoner's uniform. Is this usual for the level of assault which would normally come up before a magistrates court ?