Reform councillor who said Nigerians should be 'melted down and used to fill in potholes' guilty of sending grossly offensive message

Published: 10:57 EST, 9 November 2026 | Updated: 10:59 EST, 9 November 2026 A suspended Reform UK councillor who posted on social media suggesting that Nigerians be melted down and used to fill potholes has been found guilty of posting a grossly offensive message.Sunderland City councillor Glenn Gibbins, 66, denied breaching the Communications Act by making the post on Facebook two years before he was elected, claiming it was a ‘tongue-in-cheek joke’.But his defence was dismissed at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court today and he was found guilty after the prosecution said the post ‘conjures up despicable images.’The post came to light when the campaign group Hope Not Hate combed through Gibbins’ social media posts when he was announced as a Reform UK candidate for Sunderland City Council.He was subsequently elected to represent the Hylton Castle ward in May but suspended by Reform in August when the post came to light.Police were informed after he was successfully voted in.In the post, Gibbins said: ‘Carnt believe the amount of nigerians in town… should melt them all down and fill in the pot holes!!’Emma Dowling, prosecuting, said: ‘The comment about melting them down conjures up despicable images.’ She said it implied that Nigerians were ‘somewhat less than human, stripping people in that group of humanity.’ Glenn Gibbins was suspended by Reform in August when the post came to light He was charged under the Communications Act 2003 in relation to a post from 2024 about NigeriansGibbins, a divorced former salesman who runs a stall in Sunderland city centre printing novelty gifts, told the court: ‘I thought it was a tongue in cheek joke.‘It was an unreal scenario. No-one took it literally.’He claimed he wrote the post after a ‘couple of cans of beer’ and it ‘was tongue-in-cheek, a bit naughty, but I thought it was fun.’ He denied that it was grossly offensive.He will be sentenced this afternoon.