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Race hate pair set to be deported to Britain
TWO men behind an internet race-hate campaign who jumped bail and fled to the US are to be flown back to Britain next week to face justice, the Yorkshire Post can reveal.
Far-right fugitives Simon Sheppard, from Selby, and York University graduate Stephen Whittle claimed political asylum in California after being convicted of publishing racially inflammatory written material online.
But an immigration judge turned down their asylum claim and the pair have spent weeks waiting to be deported.
Now it is understood that Sheppard and Whittle will leave the US on June 16 and will arrive in Yorkshire for a hearing at Leeds Crown Court the next day.
Sheppard's website, to which Whittle contributed, featured offensive material.
Thousands of far-right supporters logged on to the site to view more than 100 articles by Whittle, as well as items posted by Sheppard.
The investigation into Sheppard began in 2004 when copies of a pamphlet, Tales of the Holohoax, were pushed through the letterbox of a Blackpool synagogue and sent to a prominent Jewish academic.
After the pamphlet was traced back to a post office box in Hull registered to Sheppard, police raided his flat and discovered the racist website. Sheppard, who was expelled from the British National Party in 1999, was also caught delivering racist pamphlets in North Yorkshire.
The 52-year-old, of Brook Street, Selby, was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of 16 charges relating to the possession, publication and distribution of racially inflammatory material.
Whittle, 42, of Avenham Lane, Preston, was convicted of five counts of publishing racially inflammatory material.
In July last year, before they could be sentenced, the pair skipped bail and fled to Los Angeles, claiming asylum.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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