US asylum case of web race-hate pair 'could drag on'

TWO men who jumped bail and claimed political asylum in the United States after spearheading an internet race-hate campaign could see their case drag on for months, a court heard yesterday.

Simon Sheppard, 51, from Selby, and York University graduate Stephen Whittle, 42, went on the run after being found guilty of publishing racially inflammatory written material on a website viewed by thousands of Far- Right supporters.

The pair have claimed asylum, 
complaining of "a three-year campaign of legal harassment by the governing British Labour Party", and are in Santa Ana Jail, California, while an immigration judge mulls over their case.

They were due to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court yesterday but the hearing was adjourned until May to await the outcome of the asylum claim.

Sheppard's barrister Adrian Davies, who gave evidence at the immigration hearing, yesterday told the court that US judge Rosa Peters would deliver her judgment within 30 days.

He said Sheppard and Whittle would "certainly" lodge an appeal in the US if their claim was refused.

This would first be considered by the Board of Immigration Appeals, the highest administrative body in the US for interpreting and applying immigration laws.

Mr Davies said the matter could eventually be heard by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a higher court that deals with cases from nine US states.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford said the US authorities would also have the right to appeal if the immigration court found in favour of Sheppard and Whittle.

"Therefore, whichever way it goes in the US, it seems the procedures could drag on and on," he said.

Sheppard, of Brook Street, Selby, and Whittle, of Avenham Lane, Preston, are believed to be the first UK citizens to be convicted of publishing racist material online.  continues here

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