Lord of the Dance
Deputy leader of Britain First Jayda Fransen re-arrested following court appearance in Belfast
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Deputy leader of Britain First Jayda Fransen re-arrested following court appearance in Belfast

THE deputy leader of Britain First Jayda Fransen has been re-arrested following her court appearance in Belfast today. 

The 31-year-old appeared in Laganside Court this morning charged with using words that were threatening, abusive or insulting during her speech at an anti-terrorism rally in Belfast in August this year.

Police had sought curbs on her ability to participate in future rallies in Northern Ireland, as well as social media use.

But Fransen, from Anerley in south-east London, took to Twitter within minutes of her release on bail and said it was a "nonsense charge."

"I criticise Islam and now they want to send me to prison for two years," she said in a video posted on the social media site.

The court ordered her not to go within 500 metres of any demonstration or parade in Northern Ireland as a condition of her release on bail.

District Judge Fiona Bagnall expressed doubts about whether her jurisdiction extended to the accused's social media use.

The leader of Britain First was arrested at the court this morning. (Picture: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Fransen's barrister, Richard McConkey, branded the curbs on her freedom of speech, as a politician, as disproportionate.

After Fransen left the court, she was re-arrested by PSNI officers in relation to a seperate video she had posted on social media earlier this week.

Fransen posted a tweet showing her at a wall used to divide Catholic residents from Protestants in the city to prevent violence. During the video post she criticised Islam.

The PSNI said: "Detectives investigating an incident at a peace wall in Belfast on Wednesday, December 14 have arrested a 31-year-old woman in the Belfast area today."

She has been taken to a Belfast city centre police station for interview.

Fransen's re-arrest follows the arrest of Britain First's leader Paul Golding this morning after he arrived in Belfast.

He was detained by PSNI detectives investigating the same anti-terrorism rally in Belfast last summer.