Exclusive: Society of Black Lawyers will report Murdoch's lawyers to regulators

The Society of Black Lawyers (SBL) will report any barrister or solicitor who authorised Katie Hopkins' latest controversial Sun column, in which she compared migrants to 'cockroaches', to their respective regulators.

Speaking to Solicitors Journal, chair of the SBL, Dr Peter Herbert OBE, said it was 'high time' the 'Incitement Law' under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986 was enforced and, even if it did not result in a prosecution, the fact that there was an investigation and a potential arrest would regulate journalists far better than any 'moral exultation'.

'At the same time,' he continued, 'we're going to write a very detailed letter to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court with a view to reporting her and the editor, and one of the things we will consider is, if we find that any barrister or solicitor has authorised [the article] we will make a formal complaint to the Bar Council/SRA. Our net is to catch those people who have a professional responsibility to make sure offence is not caused.'

Herbert reported Hopkins and the editor of The Sun to the police after the tabloid columnist described migrants fleeing to Britain as 'cockroaches' in her latest offering to media mogul Rupert Murdoch's flagship tabloid title.

In his letter, sent directly to the Metropolitan Police Commissioners Office yesterday and first appearing in The Independent, Herbert described Hopkins' depiction of migrants as 'sadly some of the most offensive, xenophobic and racist comments I have read in a British newspaper for some years'.

When asked about Hopkins' right to exercise free speech, Herbert said the Celebrity Big Brother contestant was an opportunist who knew very well what the limitations were, but didn't care.

'This is a Sarah Palin type character who really couldn't care less. Obviously the people who do know better are The Sun and their lawyers who must have proof read [the column] before it went out. There is, I suppose, a very cynical view that actually, in the current climate of UKIP etcetera, we can say what we like about migrants and there will be no comeback or very little.'

Herbert said there was an 'appalling level of support' for migrants in the public domain, and that pre-existing soft racism and xenophobia is being tapped into and given life by UKIP and others. He also added that the issue of settlement and that of Britain's obligation under the 1951 Geneva convention were being conflated.

Matter of urgency

In the letter to the police, Herbert wrote: 'These comments comparing the African migrants fleeing Libya to "cockroaches", almost certainly all "trafficked" persons facing intimidation, violence and extortion at the point of departure represent some of the most vulnerable people in international law at the present time. Many will have legitimate claims for asylum under the 1951 Geneva convention.'

Herbert continued: 'The use of this term employs a word used with devastating results to describe the Tutsi minority and Hutu moderates during the 1994 Rwanda genocide when they were referred to by those responsible for the genocide as "cockroaches". This fact is well known to journalists and is a matter of historical record proved by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in several judgments.

'The Society of Black Lawyers…therefore requests that this matter is investigated as a matter of urgency under the Public Order Act 1986.'

This is not the first time Herbert has issued a letter of complaint over matters that have caught the mainstream media and the wider public's attention.

It 2012, Herbert told BBC Radio 5 live the FA was 'institutionally racist' and had 'no hate-crime strategy' after alleged racist comments made by referee Mark Clattenburg were not referred to the police.

It was then in October 2013 that Herbert wrote a four-page letter of complaint to the FA, demanding that England manager Roy Hodgson attend a race appreciation training course after he told a joke about a space monkey.

UPDATE

The SBL has now included in their complaint Ashley Tabor, the founder and president of Global Radio, under which radio station LBC falls.

In a letter seen by SJ, Herbert says: 'Katie Hopkins was permitted to propagate her racist and deeply offensive xenophobic comments on LBC Radio on Sunday morning, 19th April 2015.

'Ashley Tabor has direct responsibility for authorising or permitting incitement to racial hatred given his role as the owner and Executive of the radio station where she appeared.

'Our more detailed analysis will be sent in due course.'

Laura Clenshaw is managing editor of Solicitors Journal 

@SJ_weekly 

@L_Clenshaw