Convicted far-right activist Sam Melia warned to stay off social media by Leeds judge

The 34-year-old was found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court today for inciting racial hatred and intentionally encouraging or assisting racially-aggravated criminal damage.

During a raid on his Pudsey home in 2021, they found downloadable stickers for his followers to print out and place in public calling for non-white people to be removed from Britain among other subjects, including Jews, LGBT+ people, Muslims and asylum seekers.

After the jury returned its verdict, Judge Tom Bayliss KC bailed Melia until his sentencing hearing on March 1, but warned him about using social media to highlight his trial after the court was told he made online comments during proceedings.

Judge Bayliss said: "You really must keep quiet about this. Tempting as it may be for you, if you start making your views publicly on this, it will not go well for you."

Police raided Melia's former home on Town Street in April 2021 and uncovered a catalogue of downloadable stickers. They also found a poster of Adolf Hitler on his wall and a book by the infamous British fascist, Oswald Mosley.

Melia, the Yorkshire organiser for far-right group Patriotic Alternative,  was also the head of the Hundred Handers, an anonymous group of activists responsible for a spate of anti-immigration “stickering” incidents between 2019 and 2021. The stickers he produced were found in public areas across the UK "from Cornwall to Northern Ireland", the court heard.

In his defence, Melia claimed he made the stickers to "begin conversations" on controversial subjects such as grooming gangs and intended they be put on street furniture such as lamp posts, benches, bus stops and "places people are waiting". But the jury took less than a day of deliberating to find him guilty.

Speaking after his conviction, Gregory Davis, a researcher at the peace activist group Hope Not Hate, said: "We welcome Sam Melia’s conviction. Melia has a long history in many far-right groups, including the now-banned Nazi terror group National Action, the anti-Muslim For Britain party and most recently playing a leading role in fascist group, Patriotic Alternative.

 "Melia’s campaign was intended to stir up hate against ethnic minorities, while allowing himself and other activists to remain anonymous and avoid any consequences. Thanks to Hope Not Hate’s research, Melia was unmasked and is now facing the consequences for his long campaign of hate."