A BRITISH National Party activist who hit an anti-fascist campaigner with a camera tripod was yesterday sentenced to 100 hours of unpaid work for the assault.

Peter Tierney, the former owner of Liverpool’s Quiggins centre, lashed out at demonstrator Nicholas Barnett on St George’s Day last year.

The BNP had been handing out leaflets near the junction of Church Street and Paradise Street in the city centre. But later that day they clashed with anti-fascists in St John’s Gardens.

As Tierney, 53, was preparing to leave, Mr Barnett – who is a member of Merseyside Coalition against Racism and Fascism – ran past the BNP crowd so he could hand out leaflets on St George’s Plateau.

Tierney picked up the camera tripod and hit Mr Barnett over the head.

During his trial, he claimed he was using the tripod as a shield to protect other BNP members and because he feared for his own safety. But after repeatedly watching CCTV footage of the incident, jurors rejected his defence and unanimously convicted him of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Tierney, of High Street, Hale, will now have to do 100 hours of unpaid work under a year-long community order.