Former barrister sentenced for posting “continuous barrage of offensive” antisemitic comments on online blog

Ian Millard, of Efford Way, Pennington, Hampshire, was found guilty at Southampton Magistrates’ Court of five offences of sending an offensive message on his blog between April and December 2021.

Philip Allman, prosecuting, told the court that Millard had made posts making allegations of western media being controlled by Jews with other suggestions that Jews were “responsible for the degradation of western society”. One post stated: ”Where Jews exist in any but very small numbers, non-Jews will always be exploited, and can never be free.”

He also wrote: ”They are also brainwashed from childhood with ‘Holocaust’ propaganda and fake history.”

The court heard that Millard also posted online: “Wherever Jews have power, non-Jews eventually become victims or slaves.” Sentencing the 67-year-old, District Judge Anthony Callaway said he rejected Millard’s claim that “there were no victims” of his actions.

He said: “It was directed at a racial group, which as the law presently stands, the law was designed to protect.

“It is a matter of concern to the court that post-conviction, he has continued to transmit through social media posts that have the same subject matter as the trial.”

He ordered Millard to complete 15 rehabilitation days which he said would be “designed to encourage Mr Millard to widen his perspective of considering the rights and views of others.”

Millard was disbarred following disciplinary proceedings by the Bar Standards Board in 2016 which found he had made “seriously offensive” posts on social media.

A CPS spokesman said: “Between May 2021 and April 2022, Ian Robert Millard persistently posted about his hatred of Jewish people online, while claiming he was simply exercising his freedom of speech.

“Statements made by Millard included that ‘there is nothing wrong with being antisemitic’, that England would ‘be a great deal better’ with more antisemitism and suggestions that the Holocaust was ‘fake history’.

“He also posted imagery which portrayed antisemitic conspiracy theories.

“Working closely with Hampshire Constabulary, the CPS trawled through 12 months’ worth of evidence from Millard’s blog.

“Unpicking the evidence, piece by piece, including one month of posts alone which totalled 450 pages, prosecutors were able to show the continuous barrage of offensive material – all of which needed to be considered by prosecutors to build the strongest possible case.

“At trial, prosecutors utilised the evidence to prove Millard was not simply expressing his freedom of speech, but was engaged in a campaign of antisemitic hate, publishing grossly offensive material which breached the Communications Act.”

Sophie Stevens, deputy chief crown prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said: “Antisemitism has a devastating impact on individuals and communities – we won’t hesitate to bring offenders of hate crime to justice.

“This was a complex prosecution which required many hours scrutinising the masses of online content that Ian Millard deemed perfectly acceptable.

“In fact, what he posted were grossly offensive and criminal claims about Jewish people.

“It is particularly shocking that a former barrister, who is meant to engage the law in the pursuit of justice, would express such flagrant hatred.”