A Muslim man has told a court that deputy leader of Britain First Jayda Fransen was “aggressive” towards him and accused her of calling Muslims “bastards” and “rapists”.
Fransen, 31, is standing trial alongside the leader of the far-right group, Paul Golding, accused of religiously-aggravated harassment.
The pair, both of Penge, south east London, appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Monday, where they denied the allegations.
Golding, 36, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie and Fransen, wearing a pale top, with a black skirt suit and a large crucifix necklace, were escorted to court by a crowd of supporters who filled the public gallery.
The pair were charged with three and four counts respectively of the hate crime.
They were arrested in May last year as part of an investigation into the distribution of leaflets and online videos which were posted during a trial at Canterbury Crown Court in the same month after which three Muslim men and a teenager were convicted of rape and jailed.
Video footage entitled “Muslim rapists 2” was played which showed Faiz Rahmani standing with his brother Tamin Rahmani, who was one of the defendants, and his barrister outside by the door to Canterbury Crown Court.
Faiz Rahmani is seen smoking a cigarette as Fransen walks up, steps towards them and starts to question them.
She is heard asking: “Are you Muslim? What are you doing here? What are you in for?”
She also questioned them about Muslim men who were standing trial for “raping British kids”, the court heard.
In another video shown to the court, Fransen asks Mr Rahmani about the “Muslim grooming scandal” and asks him: “Do you know about Rotherham?” and if he understood the word “terrible”.
Asked why he was content to talk to Fransen, Mr Rahmani said he did not know her and he did not want an argument with her but he wanted to address what she was saying, adding: “Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has good and bad.”
Mr Rahmani told the court: “She was so aggressive, and so loud.”
Kevin Smallcombe, defending, questioned why the allegations of being called “bastards” and “rapists” were not shown on the videos played in court.
Mr Rahmani said the video shown in court was not long enough and had part of the conversation missing.
He said there was a longer video he had seen which had been uploaded to YouTube.
The trial continues.