A disgraced barrister who posted about his hatred for Jewish people online said he was "exercising his freedom of speech". 

Ian Robert Millard, 67 was handed a nine-month community order at Southampton Magistrates' Court after persistently posting antisemitic material. 

Between May 2021 and April 2022, the disbarred barrister from Efford Way, Pennington made statements such as ‘there is nothing wrong with being antisemitic’, and that England would ‘be a great deal better’ with more antisemitism.

He also made suggestions that the Holocaust was ‘fake history’ and posted imagery which portrayed antisemitic conspiracy theories.

The material was posted on his website ianrobertmillard.org.

After trial, he was found guilty of five charges of breaching the Communications Act. 

Speaking at his sentencing on Wednesday, Philip Allman, prosecuting, told the court that Millard had made posts making allegations of western media being controlled by Jews with other suggestions that Jews were “responsible for the degradation of western society”.

One post stated: ”Where Jews exist in any but very small numbers, non-Jews will always be exploited, and can never be free.”

He also wrote: ”They are also brainwashed from childhood with ‘Holocaust’ propaganda and fake history.”

The court heard that Millard also posted online: “Wherever Jews have power, non-Jews eventually become victims or slaves.”

Sentencing the 67-year-old, District Judge Anthony Callaway said he rejected Millard’s claim that “there were no victims” of his actions.

He said: “It was directed at a racial group, which as the law presently stands, the law was designed to protect.

“It is a matter of concern to the court that post-conviction, he has continued to transmit through social media posts that have the same subject matter as the trial.”

He ordered Millard to complete 15 rehabilitation days which he said would be “designed to encourage Mr Millard to widen his perspective of considering the rights and views of others.”

Millard was disbarred following disciplinary proceedings by the Bar Standards Board in 2016 which found he had made “seriously offensive” posts on social media.

Working with Hampshire Constabulary, the Crown Prosecution Service trawled through twelve months’ worth of evidence from Millard’s blog.

In one month Millard posted 450 pages worth of material which was presented to the court to show the "continuous barrage of offensive material".

Sophie Stevens, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said: “Antisemitism has a devastating impact on individuals and communities – we won’t hesitate to bring offenders of hate crime to justice.

“This was a complex prosecution which required many hours scrutinising the masses of online content that Ian Millard deemed perfectly acceptable.

“In fact, what he posted were grossly offensive and criminal claims about Jewish people. It is particularly shocking that a former barrister, who is meant to engage the law in the pursuit of justice, would express such flagrant hatred.

“We will continue to prosecute antisemitic offenders and bring the perpetrators of any hateful crimes to justice.”