Former barrister sentenced for grossly offensive antisemitic blog posts
A disbarred barrister who posted grossly offensive antisemitic material online has been sentenced.
Between May 2021 and April 2022, Ian Robert Millard persistently posted about his hatred of Jewish people online, while claiming he was simply exercising his freedom of speech.
Statements made by Millard included that ‘there is nothing wrong with being antisemitic’, that England would ‘be a great deal better’ with more antisemitism and suggestions that the Holocaust was ‘fake history’.
He also posted imagery which portrayed antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Working closely with Hampshire Constabulary, the CPS trawled through twelve months’ worth of evidence from Millard’s blog.
Unpicking the evidence, piece by piece, including one month of posts alone which totalled 450 pages, prosecutors were able to show the continuous barrage of offensive material – all of which needed to be considered by prosecutors to build the strongest possible case.
At trial, prosecutors utilised the evidence to prove Millard was not simply expressing his freedom of speech, but was engaged in a campaign of antisemitic hate, publishing grossly offensive material which breached the Communications Act.
Having been found guilty after trial of five charges of breaching the Communications Act, Millard, 67 and of the New Forest, was sentenced at Southampton Magistrates' Court on 14 March 2024 and received a nine month Community Order.
Sophie Stevens, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said: “Antisemitism has a devastating impact on individuals and communities – we won’t hesitate to bring offenders of hate crime to justice.
“This was a complex prosecution which required many hours scrutinising the masses of online content that Ian Millard deemed perfectly acceptable.
“In fact, what he posted were grossly offensive and criminal claims about Jewish people. It is particularly shocking that a former barrister, who is meant to engage the law in the pursuit of justice, would express such flagrant hatred.
“We will continue to prosecute antisemitic offenders and bring the perpetrators of any hateful crimes to justice.”
Notes to editors
- Ian Robert Millard (DOB: 02/09/1956) was found guilty at Southampton Magistrates' Court on 17 November 2023.
- Five blog posts each relating to Millard’s assertions regarding the Jewish race were found to be contrary to section 127 (1)(a) of the Communications Act 2003.
- We take prosecuting anti-Semitism incredibly seriously – cases prosecuted since 7 October include:
o An antisemitic abuser fined for a hate crime after shouting abuse at a Jewish man in Stamford Hill
o An 18-year-old convicted of sharing racist and antisemitic material in addition to distributing information about how to create weapons and explosives.
o A man convicted after goading the Manchester Jewish community with an offensive t-shirt.
o A YouTuber sentenced for antisemitic abuse during an online livestream.
o Two teenagers sentenced for damaging poppy wreaths at Rochdale cenotaph while using antisemitic language.
o A man sentenced for spraying antisemitic graffiti on a Marks and Spencer store, in which the CPS successfully applied for a sentence uplift due to the racial aggravation.