Moygashel bonfire with replica mosque on top a monument to hatred: Judge

“No matter what way you describe it, it’s a monument to hatred and those present are glorifying hatred and Islamophobia,” Mr Justice McAlinden told defence counsel Patrick Taggart.

A replica of a mosque was placed on top of the bonfire, which was lit before it could be removed.

Ordering that Brian Neill must remain in custody on charges related to the bonfire, the judge issued a stark warning that the court “has a duty to ensure the clear message that people who are arrested for this type of offence, where there is compelling evidence of their involvement, they cannot expect to be granted bail.”

“If they come in front of this court looking for bail, they’re looking for gold at the end of the rainbow and they are not going to find it,” Mr Justice McAlinden said.

Neill, from Hollow Mills in Dungannon, is in custody charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour or displaying material in a manner likely to stir up hatred or arouse fear on July 8.

Prosecuting counsel told the High Court police had been present at the bonfire site and “were aware that a structure had been placed on top but it was under a blue tarpaulin”.

A crowd of up to 100 people had gathered around the pyre, while the police helicopter and officers on the ground recorded footage.

According to the police case, 56-year-old Neill climbed up the structure and helped two masked men fix two signs onto the pallets, before he then climbed further up to the top, where he looked under the tarpaulin.

The court heard how the signs declared ‘secure our borders’ and ‘end the threat of radical Islam’.

When the tarpaulin was removed, it revealed that underneath was a mosque with Arabic written on it which, when translated, referenced Islamic fascism and child abuse.

When the masked men climbed down from the bonfire, some of the crowd used umbrellas to thwart police efforts to record them as they got into cars and were driven away.

Neill, the court heard, was not masked and after he drove away in his own car, he was stopped by police.

The court heard that despite the 56-year-old refusing to provide the PIN for his phone, police had been able to access it and their examinations uncovered images he had taken from the top of the pyre, as well as images sent to him from people on the ground looking up at him.

During police interviews, Neill claimed the two masked men had asked him to help put the signs up, further claiming that although he was seen looking under the tarpaulin, he did not know what it was.

He told police that he had climbed down before the tarpaulin had been removed, maintaining that “he had no knowledge” of the mosque and that he “holds no hatred towards immigrants or the Muslim faith”.

“Police are objecting to bail,” the prosecutor told Mr Justice McAlinden, revealing that in addition to Neill’s 123 previous convictions, he had been in court earlier that same day.

She outlined that despite being given a prison sentence for an offence of actual bodily harm, Neill had been released pending an appeal and it was within hours of being granted bail that he was atop of the bonfire.

“He has breached orders in the past,” the prosecutor told the court, highlighting that Neill has breaches of court orders amongst his previous offending.