����ý

A mother has told a court she blames the deputy leader of Britain First for her daughter's stillbirth.

Kelli Best said she lost her child two days after Jayda Fransen shouted "racist remarks" through her letterbox.

Folkestone Magistrates' Court heard Ms Fransen had been directing the comments at Ms Best's partner, a Muslim man due to face trial for rape.

Ms Fransen and the leader of the far-right group, Paul Golding, both deny religiously-aggravated harassment.

A video played in court showed her banging on the door of the Kent property and shouting: "Come out and face me you disgusting rapist."

Live: More news from across the South East

On the second day of their trial, the court heard how Ms Fransen went to the Ramsgate home of Tamin Rahmani, one of the defendants in the rape trial.

His partner Kelli Best told how she was alone with their two children on 9 May last year.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, she said: "She was making racist remarks: 'Dirty Muslim rapist, come out, we're not going to leave until you're gone, come out. Dirty scumbags'.

"It was directed at Tamin because she thought he was in there but he wasn't.

"I was also pregnant at the time it happened, two days after I started to bleed heavily and lost my daughter, she was stillborn.

"I blame Jayda Fransen because there was no other reason for it to happen."

'Sweeping statement'

Ms Fransen, 31, and Mr Golding, 36, from Penge in south-east London, were arrested in May last year as part of an investigation into the distribution of leaflets and online videos.

The clips were posted during a trial at Canterbury Crown Court where three Muslim men and a teenager were convicted of rape and jailed.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, Ms Fransen denied she was racist.

She said she had carried out campaigns against people accused of sex offences on a number of other occasions, but denied using the phrase "Muslim bastards", or saying that all Muslims are rapists.

"I've never said that and would never say that," she told the court.

"I think it's ridiculous, it's such a sweeping statement that I would never make."

Mr Golding told the court that he had often acted as Ms Fransen's cameraman.

He said she edited and uploaded the footage, as well as designing and posting the leaflets.

"It was Jayda's campaign, she took ownership of it," he said.

"Jayda didn't abuse anyone. I don't believe what she did and what she said amounted to abuse."

Mr Golding said he has received "death threats, physical attacks and regular confrontations" as a result of his work with Britain First.

'Evict him'

The court was told Ms Fransen was previously convicted of racially aggravated harassment relating to an incident in Luton in January 2016 when she abused a woman wearing a hijab.

Ms Fransen told her she "had been hidden because your men can't control their urges", with the victim later telling police Ms Fransen had also said "you cover because you don't want to be raped".

The court was also told Mr Golding had a previous conviction for harassing a person in their home in January 2015.

Prosecutor Madeleine Wolf said he told a woman living there that her son was a terrorist and that "we want to evict him, we don't want him to live there".

The details of previous convictions were given during a prosecution bad character application which was denied by Judge Justin Barron.

Ms Fransen is charged with four counts of causing religiously-aggravated harassment, while Mr Golding faces three counts.

They have both denied the charges.

The judge will give his verdicts on 7 March.