Trial of facts over former councillor’s “bigoted” tweets

A former North Yorkshire councillor who also served as the mayor of Harrogate posted antisemitic tweets which were “greater than bigotry in the extreme”, a court heard.

Pat Marsh, 78, is accused of stirring up racial hatred by publishing written material in relation to posts made on X in January and February 2024.

A trial of facts is taking place at York Crown Court as Marsh, who has dementia, has been deemed physically and mentally unfit to enter a plea and give evidence as part of a conventional trial.

The trial of facts, which has yet to hear evidence in her defence, is expected to conclude on Friday.

Opening the case earlier, prosecutor Ashleigh Metcalfe said most of the content which Marsh posted on X while a serving councillor was “concerned with the events in Gaza and was plainly anti-Israel”, adding: “Some of it was antisemitic”.

“We say it’s greater than bigotry in the extreme,” she said.

The posts attracted hundreds of views, said Metcalfe, who told jurors they were later picked up by local and national media outlets, thereby expanding their reach.

She said the tweets were “threatening, abusive or insulting [and] in all circumstances likely to stir up racial hatred”.

Marsh, who has no previous convictions, was arrested on 20 February 2024 after police received four reports about the alleged antisemitic posts.

She did not answer any questions put to her in a police interview later that day, the court heard.

Following her arrest, Marsh, who represented the Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone ward as a councillor in Harrogate, resigned from her post after three decades in public life.

She was also suspended by her party, the Liberal Democrats.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she had denied the posts were antisemitic prior to being charged.

The hearing continues.