Judge quashes “misleading” court summons against Reginald D. Hunter

A “misleading” court summons against Reginald D Hunter has been quashed after a judge ruled that the Campaign Against Antisemitism had tried to have the comedian “cancelled”.

The comedian had been accused by the organisation of three counts of sending offensive communications to Heidi Bachram via X in August and September last year.

Yesterday (December 23), District Judge Michael Snow quashed the summons, however, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, following an application by the defence. He ruled that the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) had aimed to have Hunter “cancelled”, ruling the prosecution “abusive”.

“The CAA have demonstrated by the misleading and partial way in which it summarised its application and its wilful, repeated failure to meet its disclosure obligations, that its true and sole motive in seeking to prosecute Reginald Hunter is to have him cancelled,” the judge said in his ruling.

“I have no doubt that the prosecution is abusive,” he added. “My view of the conduct of the CAA is consistent with them as an organisation which is not ‘playing it straight’ but is seeking to use the criminal justice system, in this case for improper reasons.”

He also said the application case “did not reveal the extent of [Bachram’s] tweets directed against Reginald Hunter in the period immediately preceding the complaints”, adding: “The summary misled me into believing that his comments were addressed to her involvement with the Jewish faith as opposed to his response to attempts that were being made to have him ‘cancelled’.”

Hunter’s legal representative, Rebecca Chalkley K,C told the hearing that “the CAA are weaponising and using the courts for their own political agenda and not just in this case”.

The CAA’s prosecutor, Donal Lawler, said in court that the charity had complied with its duty of candour in pursuing the case.

Hunter responded to the decision with a Facebook post yesterday. “It’s a tough day for crackas”, he wrote, alongside a summary of the proceedings.

In August last year, one of Hunter’s stand-up shows was cancelled by a Glasgow theatre in the light of allegations of anti-Semitism against the comedian. “As a comedian, I do push boundaries in creating humour, it’s part of my job,” Hunter said at the time.

“This inevitably creates divided opinions but I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bully. I regret any stress caused to the audience and venue staff members.”

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