Britain First leader and deputy leader arrested in Belfast over hate speeches

The deputy leader of far-right group Britain First, who was retweeted by Donald Trump, has been re-arrested on the court steps in Belfast.

It came minutes after Jayda Fransen, 31, appeared in court accused of behaviour intended or likely to stir up hatred arising from her speech at a Northern Ireland Against Terrorism rally last summer.

Her rearrest came after she featured in a tweet on Wednesday purporting to show her at a peace wall used to divide Catholic residents from Protestants to prevent violence during the Troubles.

The message said it was shot in the staunchly unionist Shankill area of west Belfast.

During the video post she criticised Islam.

It comes as the group gained its greatest publicity ever last month when it revealed Donald Trump had retweeted three of Ms Fransen's videos, endorsing her Islamophobic message to his 43.6 million followers.

Britain First leader Paul Golding was also arrested at the court in relation to a rally speech he made in the city in August.

Police arrested him as he attended  Laganside Court, in Belfast, to support Ms Fransen.

Outside court she dismissed the charges as "nonsense".

They both face separate legal action in England.

Ms Fransen, from Anerley in south east London, was charged at Belfast Magistrates' Court with using words which were threatening, abusive or insulting during her speech.

Police in court sought curbs on her ability to participate in future rallies in Northern Ireland as well as her social media use.

District judge Fiona Bagnall said she was not stopping the accused from speaking, rather preventing her from reoffending.

Ms Fransen is on bail facing trial over four unrelated charges of causing religiously aggravated harassment as part of a Kent Police investigation into the distribution of leaflets and the posting of online videos during a trial held at Canterbury Crown Court in May.

She will go on trial at Folkestone Magistrates' Court on January 29 alongside Golding, who faces three similar charges.

Her Belfast case is expected to be mentioned again in the city on January 9.