GRAVESEND: Mother at centre of controversial BNP video jailed

Helen Forster, of Park Place, Gravesend, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to 11 months in prison for perverting the course of justice and common assault.

The 32-year-old admitted both charges, which related to an incident in Fort Gardens, Gravesend, on May 23.

She was given an additional nine months in jail for breaching a suspended sentence.

In May, Forster was given a 10-month suspended prison term after being convicted of intimidation.

In that case the court heard she had encouraged a group of children to throw eggs and fire an airgun at the home of her neighbour Meherjan Miah, who lives there with her young children.

Following Forster’s conviction for intimidation, it was reported in the media she was a member of the British National Party.

However, Paul Golding, BNP councillor for the Swanley St Mary’s Ward of Sevenoaks District Council, vigorously denied she had ever been a member of his party, calling the reports “outrageous lies”.

In a video, Cllr Golding said Forster "is not a member of the British National Party and she never has been".

He added: “I contacted our membership department and asked them to check all of our records going back many years and she is not on there whatsoever.”

Cllr Golding interviewed Forster in the video and she denied ever being a member of the BNP.

However, News Shopper discovered she was registered as a member of the party under a different name - Helen Colclough.

The video was made as part of Cllr Golding’s Operation Fightback campaign, which aims to expose so-called media lies.

When asked to explain why his video on Forster contained a lie, he said he was unaware she was a member of his party under a different name at the time of making the video.