Robert Stewart MP guilty of racist abuse
An MP has been found guilty of racially abusing a member of the public today (3 November 2023) at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after a one-day trial.
Robert Stewart MP, was convicted of a racially aggravated public order offence after he told a member of the public to go back to his country, demonstrating racial hostility likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to those present at the time.
He was attending an event hosted by the Government of Bahrain when he used racist language towards the victim outside of the venue.
Stewart was fined £600, which the court said would have been £400 had it not been for the seriousness of the hate crime he committed.
Claire Walsh, of the CPS, said: “The court has found today that Robert Stewart's language amounted to a racially aggravated offence.
"His claim that his words were misinterpreted were rejected by the court in light of evidence presented by the CPS, including footage filmed by a witness and the victim's testimony.
“Hatred of any kind has no place in society and wherever our legal test is met, the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute those who perpetrate hate crimes."
Notes to editors
- Claire Walsh is a Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor and Area Hate Crime Lead for CPS London South
- Robert Stewart MP was found guilty of racially aggravated Section 5, Public Order Act
- Under hate crime legislation, courts must pass an increased sentence where the prosecutor has shown evidence that criminal offences either demonstrate or have been motivated by hostility towards a person’s race, religion, disability, transgender identity or sexuality. This is known as a “sentence uplift”.