A man has shown up at a magistrate’s court with his face hidden under a burka.
Timothy Miller, 76, arriving at Portsmouth Magistrates (Image: PA)
A 76-year-old man has appeared before magistrates wearing a burka and clutching a black handbag to contest a charge of donning the Islamic garment to disguise his identity during a demonstration.
Timothy Miller, of Sherwood Avenue, Hedge End, Southampton, Hampshire, attended Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court following his arrest in connection with the anti-migrant protest in Portsmouth on 12th September.
Upon entering the dock, District Judge Stephen Apted addressed the defendant: “Can you remove your face covering so we can identify you, please?”
Miller subsequently lifted the veil of the burka while holding a black handbag as he confirmed his name, date of birth and address.
When asked how he responded to the charge of using the burka to conceal his identity within a designated area under section 158 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, Miller declared: “As I am in every police camera, I am not guilty.”
Miller was then pressed on what his legal defence to the charge was, to which he replied: “The issue quite simply is we should be all living under one law of which I think everybody is under agreement.”
He claimed he held an “exemption” for “Islamic” religious observance, adding “which I am entitled to, therefore it was an exemption for which I told the police”.
When asked to confirm that the religion in question was “Islam”, Miller stated: “I do not feel I should answer this question because nobody is asked this question when they come into the country.”
Mr Apted proceeded to ask Miller to clarify that he observed Islam as a religion, to which the defendant responded: “As such as I am studying Islam as it seems to be the most beneficial religion to be noticed in this climate today.”
He stated that he continued wearing the burka to gain a “greater understanding” from “this side of the veil” and noted: “It’s part of my inquiring mind of changing from one religion to another”.
Miller informed the court that he had resided in Morocco and journeyed to Bahrain and Dubai, stating: “What I say is happening here is the movement generally by law and everything that we are moving towards an Islamic society, therefore it is more beneficial to me to have a full understanding and belief, that’s what I am doing.
“I think we are going down a very dangerous path questioning people about their religion, I think at the moment Jews are under the same pressure.”
Miller claimed that he felt his arrest was not lawful “because I complied with everything, I was in every single camera including the drones overhead, I presented myself to the cameras.
“I was never once asked to remove my face covering.”
Mr Apted postponed the proceedings for a trial to take place at the same court on February 16.
Miller advised the court that he was unrepresented at this hearing but was crowdfunding to pay for legal representatives. Mr Apted said that Miller’s defence representatives must produce a report confirming the defendant’s case that “a male person who is considering moving to Islam can wear a burka in public in order to better understand the religion and enable that person to make an informed decision about observing that religion”.
Miller was subsequently released on unconditional bail ahead of the trial.
Andy Burnham accused of ‘inciting disorder’ as 781 migrants cross Channel in single day
Andy Burnham is accused of inciting disorder after a record 781 migrants crossed the Channel in one day, while Reform UK warns numbers are accelerating.
Andy Burnham accused of ‘inciting disorder’ over migrant crisis (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham has been accused of inciting disorder across the country because of the way his Government is handling the migration crisis.
It comes after his administration suffered its worst day on record, with 781 illegal migrants breaking into the country in unlawful Channel crossings in a single day.
The record-breaking influx also saw two boats arrive on UK shores undetected, sparking fury in Westminster and triggering threats of protests at migrant sites.
Horrendous footage and pictures, seen in Thursday’s Daily Express, also show what appears to be a man abandoning a child in the water so he can climb aboard a crowded dinghy.
Reform UK’s Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf warned that numbers were “accelerating” despite Home Office claims that the overall total had reduced.
He told Good Morning Britain that the UK has had “north of 210,000 people turn up on our beaches illegally in the past eight years” and warned “people’s lives are being turned upside down”.
Those comments were in relation to the village of Piddington, which recently hosted a symbolic referendum to leave the UK in protest against the housing of migrants at a nearby base.
Mr Yusuf said residents “are terrified that they are about to be outnumbered 10 to 1 by illegal migrant men”.
Home Office data shows a decline in the number of crossings this year, but critics say the overall figure remains far too high, with an insufficient number of people being sent back to their countries of origin.
Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf accuses Andy Burnham of inciting disorder (Image: Getty)
In a scathing attack on the Prime Minister, Mr Yusuf said: “Andy Burnham is inciting disorder in Britain by wielding the state’s monopoly on violence to impose unvetted men from countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Eritrea into local communities.”
He added: “This is unprecedented. I am worried the country is heading to a dark place.”
His remarks refer to footage showing coaches used to transfer migrants from the coast to immigration centres being accompanied by a police escort.
There have been mounting protests by masked men near locations used to hold migrants, though police support for security reasons is not uncommon.
