When Justice Defers to Fear

Via Little Green Footballs comes a story of a man in Aberporth, Wales, who was convicted of speech "likely to cause distress" for putting out a banner that read,

Kill all Muslims who threaten us and our way of life. Enoch Powell was right.

I'm a great advocate of free speech, but when any banner has the word "kill" in it, that makes it grounds for some pretty intense scrutiny and I rather suspect that the prosecution was right in calling this disorderly conduct because the gentlemen in question didn't qualify "Muslims." However, the chilling part of the case is this quote from the Tivy-Side Advertiser (emphasis added):

One of his neighbours, a retired Army officer with 23 years service, told the court he reported the matter to the police because he feared a visit from Muslim extremists.

In other words, it was not respect for the law but fear of the Jihadists who made him turn his neighbour in.

Final score: Jihad 1, Justice nil.