Deputy leader of far-right group found guilty of abusing woman in hijab

Far-right group Britain First's deputy leader has been found guilty of verbally abusing a Muslim woman in a hijab in front of her four children.

Jayda Fransen, 30, shouted at Sumayyah Sharpe in January during a Britain First "Christian patrol" in Luton.

Fransen admitted telling Ms Sharpe that Muslim men force women to cover up to avoid being raped "because they cannot control their sexual urges", adding "that's why they are coming into my country raping women across the continent".

The deputy leader was convicted of religiously aggravated harassment and fined just under £2,000.

During an appearance at Luton and South Bedfordshire Magistrates' Court Fransen said the words were not supposed to be offensive.

"The reason I said them was because from everything I have studied, I understand them to be true," she said.

District Judge Carolyn Mellanby called Fransen's words offensive, insulting, and abusive, adding that the group had chosen Ms Sharpe as an "easy target" after embarking on a quest "for trouble."

The incident happened after Ms Sharpe refused to take a newspaper with a headline that read: "World War Three has begun - Islam against the world."