Disgraced Former Official Pleads Guilty to Leaking BNP Membership List
The disgraced former deputy head of security for the British National Party, Matt Single, has pleaded guilty to leaking the party’s membership list on the Internet last year.
Mr Single pleaded guilty and was sentenced this morning to a derisory £300 fine by a court in Nottingham after accepting full responsibility for the leaking of the list, shifting blame from his wife, Sadie Graham, who is another disgraced former official.
Evidence in court showed that police had found the incriminating evidence which showed that the couple had put the list on the Internet in two pen drives. The pen drives had been wrapped in plastic wrap and hidden inside a cereal box in their kitchen. Police had found the drives while making a thorough search of their house.
Police had also recovered a laptop belonging to the pair which they had used to upload the list onto the Internet.
The court heard that there were 160 complaints from people who had been threatened or had had their property vandalised as a result of the leaked list.
By pleading guilty and taking the blame upon himself, Mr Single managed to prevent the charges being confirmed against his wife, and as a result, only he has a criminal conviction under the Data Protection Act.
However, Mr Single never personally had possession of the membership list, as it was only ever entrusted to Miss Graham in her role as group development officer. Therefore, Miss Graham must have given the list to Mr Single.
Sentencing Mr Single, the judge said he was “frustrated” at the fact that he could not fine Mr Single more. Mr Single is currently on job seekers’ allowance, and this restricted the amount by which he could be fined. The £300 fine was comprised of £200 for the criminal offence and £100 towards the prosecution and investigation costs, which, the judge said, amounted to many thousands of pounds.
*Mr Single and Miss Graham were expelled from the party in 2007 for being part of a well orchestrated attempt to sabotage the BNP. Their co-conspirators in that intrigue included former BNP webmaster Steve Blake and former administration officer Kenny Smith and his wife, Nicholla Ritchie.
This group also used the membership list to send out fake membership bulletins attacking the party and set up various websites to the same end. All of these attempts failed, and with the criminal conviction of Mr Single, the door can now be closed on this treacherous affair.
