PAUL GOLDING, the leader of far-right political group Britain First, was yesterday found guilty of an offence under the Terrorism Act.

Mr Golding was convicted after refusing to give the police access to his mobile phone on his return from a political trip to Russia in October last year.

Westminster magistrates’ court heard that he’d travelled at the invitation of the far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, which he described as a “right-wing conservative patriotic group.”

Mr Golding, who denied the charge, claimed that if the party “incited violence, then Britain First wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole.”

Chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot said that there was “no doubt” that he had failed to comply, despite being warned “over and over” that he was at risk of arrest if he didn’t.

She gave Mr Golding a conditional discharge for nine months and ordered him to pay a £21 surcharge and £750 in costs.