Radio host who praised Hitler jailed for antisemitic broadcasts
search

The latest Jewish News

Read this week’s digital edition

Click Here

Radio host who praised Hitler jailed for antisemitic broadcasts

Graham Hart, 69, was jailed for 32 months after pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred against Jewish people in a series of broadcasts.

Truro Crown Court by Steven Haslington is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Truro Crown Court by Steven Haslington is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

A radio host who compared Jewish people to rats and labelled the Holocaust a hoax in vile antisemitic radio shows was jailed for 32 months last week.

Graham Hart, 69, of Penponds, Camborne, was handed the jail sentence at Truro Crown Court on Friday. He had pleaded guilty to eight counts of inciting racial hatred at the same court in June.

Comments on the shows between 18 July 2016 and 24 December 2020, on which Hart was either a presenter or guest reportedly included questioning the Holocaust and labelling Hitler “the greatest man of the twentieth century.”

He was also reported to have said “Let’s get rid of the Jews. It’s time for them to go…I’ve had enough of these people now … the chaos that they cause” and “it’s always these same people that are behind everything. So, they’ve got to go.”

Hart’s counsel had argued that he had read things on the internet which he came to believe and got drawn in “deeper and deeper.”

But judge Robert Linford said Hart “set out to whip feelings of hatred to members of the Jewish faith.”

Alongside the prison sentence, the radio host was banned from broadcasting for ten years.

Campaign Against Antisemitism, which drew the police’s attention to Hart’s comments, praised officers DC Sean McDonnell and DI Daniel Massey from Devon and Cornwall police for their work.

“The offences he committed constitute some of the most extreme hatred towards Jews that we have ever encountered,” said the group’s Stephen Silverman.

“It is vital that the Jewish community is protected from this man, which this sentence achieves.”

Prosecutors said police discovered books and papers relating to the Holocaust at his property, which alongside posts claiming the Shoah was a hoax, gave him little choice but to plead guilty.

“Graham Hart used his position to influence people as a radio host to stir up racial hatred and incite violence against the Jewish race,” said Nick Price, Head of the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division in the Crown Prosecution Service.

“I am pleased that he has been brought to justice and we have put an end to his abusive and insulting broadcasts.”

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.

For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.

Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.

You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.

100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...

Engaging

Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.

Celebrating

There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.

Pioneering

In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.

Campaigning

Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.

Easy access

In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.

Voice of our community to wider society

The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.

We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.

read more: