Those behind a Co Tyrone bonfire that was set alight with a replica mosque on top have a “clear agenda full of hate and bigotry towards others”, a judge has told a court.
Judge Barney McElholm made his comments at Dungannon Magistrates Court on Friday after refusing bail to a man charged with incitement to hatred in connection with a loyalist bonfire in Moygashel village.
Brian Conrad Neill (56) of Hollow Mills, New Mills, Dungannon, was remanded in custody in relation to the alleged offence, which took place on Wednesday when the effigy was erected.
The accused stood handcuffed in the dock as his solicitor claimed he was used by “sinister” elements to scale the pyre because of his occupation as a tree surgeon.
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McElholm told the court he didn’t believe “a word Mr Neill is saying”, adding: “It seems to me he was up to his eyes in this.”
Neill, who has more than 120 convictions and was described by a police officer as “very influential in the area”, claimed he did not know the effigy was underneath the tarpaulin at the top of the bonfire.
McElholm said any reasonable person would “recoil in horror” if asked to assist the Moygashel bonfire, citing last’s year effigy of a migrants’ boat containing more than a dozen life-size mannequins wearing life jackets.
“This annual bonfire has become notorious ... and it seems as if on each succeeding year, they tried to outdo the disgraceful nature of what they did the previous year,” he said. “They don’t need tree surgeons. They’ve been doing this for years.”
The bonfire was lit on Thursday evening before the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) could remove the display as part of a hate crime investigation. It was due to be set alight this evening.
Neill faces one count of incitement to hatred by displaying written material which was threatening, abusive or insulting, intending thereby to stir up hatred or arouse fear.
The accused was filmed on top of the bonfire beside other men wearing balaclavas and dark clothing. Neill was not masked and wore a Northern Ireland top with a distinctive yellow circle on the front.
Banners along with an effigy of a man holding a knife were on top of the fire. The defendant “appeared to be assisting two masked men and pulling two signs up the bonfire so they could be screwed into position,” a police officer told the court.
One sign said “Secure our borders” and other said “End the threat of radical Islam”.
She said when the blue tarpaulin was removed, a “mosque-like” structure was left on top. Arabic writing beside the effigy which has been translated as “Islamic Fascism”.
Police arrested Neill in a car shortly after midnight and during police interviews he claimed he had “no knowledge” of what was under the tarpaulin.
“Whilst he saw the signs and is able to read, he did not bother to read what was written on them. He denies hatred towards immigrants or those of the Muslim faith,” the officer said.
A solicitor for the accused said his client had been used as a “pawn” by “more sinister elements”.
Neill had gone into the village for a few cans of cider on July 8th and was approached by two men who asked him to fix a crooked part of the bonfire structure, due to his training as a tree surgeon, the court heard.
He wasn’t aware of the offensive signage and had “no part whatsoever in the Moygashel Bonfire Association”, the solicitor added.
An application for bail was refused by the judge.
