The decision to schedule the trial of a University of Oxford student accused of stirring up racial hatred during a pro-Gaza protest in two years’ time has been branded an “example of two-tier justice”. Samuel Williams, 21, a Politics, Philosophy and Economics student at Balliol College, is accused of chanting “put the Zios in the ground” in London on October 11 last year.
However, his trial will not go ahead until January 2028. In response, Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, told GB News: “This is a clear example of two-tier justice in Keir Starmer’s Britain.
“Offensive social media posts following Southport were in court in weeks – yet this man who is accused of antisemitism will take two years to get to court. “It is double standards.”Similarly, Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s Home Affairs Spokesman, said: “The seriousness of the charge makes it shocking that the trial be set for two years in the future.”
Sammeul Williams, from Kent, has been suspended from Oxford University | INSTAGRAM
At the hearing in Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, Williams, of Kent, spoke only to confirm his name and pleaded not guilty to the charge.This comes as Justice Secretary David Lammy’s flagship legislation aimed at restricting the right to a trial by jury was formally introduced in the House of Commons.The Courts and Tribunals Bill began its passage through Parliament on Tuesday with its first reading in the House of Commons and its aim is to clear the crown court backlog, as it hit a record high of more than 80,000 cases.Despite receiving fierce opposition, with around 60 Labour MPs signing a letter calling for the plans to be reconsidered, the bill has entered the first stage in becoming an Act of Parliament.
David Lammy’s Courts and Tribunals Bill began its passage through Parliament on Tuesday | GETTY
Williams was given conditional bail and his trial date was set for January 17, 2028.For those entering a not guilty plea at Crown Court, the median waiting time for a trial is 45.9 weeks. However, Williams’ trial date was set approximately 98 weeks from the initial hearing.
Lord Austin, the former Labour MP, wrote on X in reference to Williams’ trial: “People accused of racist incitement after Southport (some for social media posts) were fast-tracked into court, convicted and in prison in days or weeks.“How can this be the case when the Attorney General said claims that the UK has two-tier justice were ‘disgusting’?”Lord Austin, who is now an independent peer and UK trade envoy to Israel, was referring to comments Lord Hermer gave last year when he rejected claims of a two-tier justice system as “disgusting” and “wrong”. Williams was charged after a video was posted online of a man chanting during a Palestine Coalition protest in Whitehall.
In the video, a man is shown saying: “A steadfast and noble resistance in Palestine and in Gaza to look to, to be inspired by and, I don’t want to yap for too long, but a chant that we’ve been workshopping in Oxford that maybe you guys want to join in.”It goes ‘Gaza, Gaza, make us proud, put the Zios in the ground’.”Lord Austin’s post on X was also referring to Lucy Connolly, who was also charged with inciting racial hatred on X on the day of the Southport murders in July 2024. She pleaded guilty and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court.Evidence emerged from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Mrs Connolly’s case was treated with the same urgency as a high-level terror investigation. She spent months being told her files were “lost or destroyed” before finally obtaining them via a Subject Access Request. Earlier this month, the mother spoke to the People’s Channel claiming the documents confirmed a coordinated effort between the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Attorney General to rush her into a cell within 24 hours.According to CPS guidance, inciting racial hatred is a criminal offence in England and is not covered by freedom of expression, through the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). GB News has reached out to HM Courts & Tribunals Service for comment.