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Britain First leader 'admits assaulting' former deputy Jayda Fransen in secret recording

Paul Golding (right) pictured with former Britain First Deputy Jayda Fransen in 2018 as they attended Belfast Magistrates Court. Picture by Alan Lewis.
Paul Golding (right) pictured with former Britain First Deputy Jayda Fransen in 2018 as they attended Belfast Magistrates Court. Picture by Alan Lewis. Paul Golding (right) pictured with former Britain First Deputy Jayda Fransen in 2018 as they attended Belfast Magistrates Court. Picture by Alan Lewis.

THE leader of the far right group, Britain First, has been secretly recorded admitting to violently attacking his former deputy, Jayda Fransen.

The revelation emerged as part of an investigation by BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight which focused on the activities of the group, which has attempted to establish a presence in Northern Ireland.

The recording was made in December 2015, and features Fransen (33), who now lives in Donaghadee, Co Down, challenging Golding (37) about violent assaults on her.

She can be heard saying of Golding, who she was in a brief relationship with after joining Britain First in 2014,: "You tried to come at me, tried to hit me, you said you were going to kill me and threw a bottle of drink at my face."

Golding can also be heard admitting to assaulting Fransen and another woman, when he states: "The only two girls I lay a finger on in my life is **** and you."

Fransen left Britain First at the beginning of this year.

In a response to the BBC's allegations, Golding did not answer questions on the recordings, but said in a statement: "I have been advised to warn you that any libel or defamation will result in legal proceedings."

Both Golding and Fransen were jailed last year over religiously aggravated harassment against Muslims in England, while Fransen was convicted of stirring up hatred in a speech made in Belfast in August 2017.

Golding and two other English men, John Banks and Paul Rimmer, were acquitted on similar charges relating to speeches made in Northern Ireland.