Mark Collett

Mark Adrian Collett (born 3 October 1980) is a British political activist and neo-Nazi. He is a former chairman of the Young BNP, the youth division of the British National Party (BNP), and was director of publicity for the party before his BNP membership was suspended in early April 2010.

Early life and education

From Rothley, Collett was educated at Loughborough Grammar School and the University of Leeds where he received a lower second-class honours degree in business economics.[1]

Controversies

Channel 4 documentary

Collett featured on a Channel 4 documentary on the BNP - Young, Nazi and Proud broadcast in 2002 which concentrated almost exclusively on Collett. He declared his admiration for Adolf Hitler and said that he considered AIDS a "friendly disease because blacks, drug users and gays have it", unaware he was being recorded.[1][2] Collett made similar remarks while on Russell Brand's 2002 TV show RE:Brand, in which he described homosexuals as "AIDS Monkeys", "bum bandits" and "faggots".[3] Collett was sacked from his position in the party and expelled days after the Channel 4 documentary was broadcast, although party leaders continued to share speaking platforms with him. However he was allowed to rejoin a few days later with chairman Nick Griffin saying that he must change his views on the subject. Collett was the party's head of publicity and produced the party's monthly magazine Identity.[4]

BBC documentary and subsequent trial

As a result of a police investigation into another documentary, BBC One's The Secret Agent, which in July 2004 broadcast secret footage of Collet making derogatory remarks about asylum seekers, whom he called "cockroaches".[2] Collett, then aged 24, was bailed on race hate offences at Leeds magistrates' court on 7 April 2005 alongside party founder John Tyndall and party leader Nick Griffin. The trial ended on 2 February 2006 after a jury acquitted Collett of two charges of using words or behaviour intended to stir up racial hatred, and two alternative charges of using words likely to stir up racial hatred. The jury failed to reach a verdict in respect of a further four charges.

The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently announced that Collett and Griffin would face a retrial on the remaining charges of using words or behaviour intended to stir up racial hatred. This retrial began at Leeds Crown Court on 1 November 2006 and he and Griffin were found not guilty.[5]

BNP leadership bid

In April, 2010 Collette was sacked from his job as BNP publicity chief and suspended from the party for being supportive of a leadership bid against Griffin,[6] and was subsequently arrested by Humberside police, who questioned him over alleged threats to kill Griffin.[7] Despite the reinstatement of Collett's party membership he did not stand for the party in the May 2010 general election.

Humberside Police did not bring charges against Collett over the allegations of threats to kill, formally dismissing them later in 2010.[8]

Involvement in EU referendum campaign, 2016

During the 2016 EU referendum campaign, Collett was seen campaigning for Vote Leave and was featured in news articles by daily newspapers, including the Daily Mail, alongside his neo-Nazi partner Eva Van Housen, who displayed her Nazi tattoos for the publication.[9] BBC News later reported that Vote Leave warned Collett and Van Housen to stop using their Brexit campaign materials.[10]

Elections contested

Date of election Constituency Party Votes % Source
2005 Leeds Central BNP 1201 4.1 The Guardian, 7 May 2005

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Channel 4 Documentary - Dispatches: Young, Nazi and Proud (2002) Video
  2. 1 2 Morris, Nigel; Peck, Tom (4 April 2010). "BNP official arrested over claims he threatened to kill Nick Griffin". The Independent on Sunday. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Naziboy". RE:Brand. UK Play.
  4. ↑ Editorial team Archived 2009-01-07 at the Wayback Machine., Identity website, accessed 26 Nov 2008
  5. ↑ "BNP leader cleared of race hate". BBC News. 10 November 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  6. ↑ "BNP publicity chief sacked amid claims of 'palace coup' against leader Nick Griffin". Daily Mail. London. 4 April 2010.
  7. ↑ "BNP's head of publicity arrested over threats to kill Nick Griffin in 'palace coup'". Daily Mail. London. 6 April 2010.
  8. ↑ "Police to take no further action over plot to kill head of BNP". Hope Not Hate. London.
  9. ↑ "The neo-Nazi with a swastika on her breast... and Vote Leave badge on her vest: From Holocaust deniers to EDL fascists posing at the Kray twins' grave, the violent thugs and racists hijacking the Brexit campaign". Daily Mail. London. 24 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Vote Leave tell ex-BNP official Mark Collett to stop using their material". BBC News. London. 27 May 2016.
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