A BORDERS community council chairman with links to a far-right group has been hit with a £500 penalty for racist abuse of a young student.

Gregory Lauder-Frost resigned the chairmanship of Foulden, Mordington and Lamberton Community Council last week after a sheriff at Jedburgh declared he had made racist comments.

Lauder-Frost has made no secret of his right-wing views as a member of the Traditional Britain Group and in 2013, Jacob Rees-Mogg MP – now leader of the House of Commons – was forced to issue a public apology for attending a Traditional Britain Group dinner after which he described the views of Lauder-Frost as “disgusting”.

After his trial, Lauder-Frost, 67, was fined £300 and ordered to pay £200 compensation to Isadora Sinha, 21, after being found guilty of a racially-aggravated offence of abusing the student on social media in a threatening manner.

Local newspaper The Southern Reporter carried a full account of Lauder-Frost’s trial. The newspaper reported that the court heard that Lauder-Frost took part in a Facebook debate with British-Indian genetics student Sinha on April 25 last year.

He wrote: “You are not British. You are someone of foreign ethnicity.”

Later he added: “It is not skin colour that matters, it is race. Your natural home lies out of the UK.

“Please go back to your natural homeland instead of insulting us.”

He later added: “You have no right to be in our country or arguing with a superior race.”

More sinisterly he added: “As the KGB say, you are on the list. Don’t get too comfortable.”

Defence lawyer Robert More said Lauder-Frost had sent his messages in the context of being provoked but had stopped when asked to by Sinha’s mother.

He said: “This was an intelligent young woman who was keen to get involved in a political debate but then, having been offended, decided to report the matter to the police.”

Finding Lauder-Frost guilty of making threatening comments, Sheriff Peter Paterson said: “The comments are racist. They clearly are.”

Lauder-Frost had a previous conviction dating back to 1992, when he was jailed for two years for embezzling £110,000 from Riverside Health Authority in London.

He has previously been a member of the Conservatives’ Monday Club with which the Conservative Party severed its links in 2001 due to its extreme views. He was later instrumental in establishing the Conservative Democratic Alliance, described by the Equality Commission as “ultra right”, yet despite the use of the word Conservative he was not a member of the Conservative Party.

He has been vice-president of the Traditional Britain Group and in early April he addressed the Alternative for Deutschland’s Conference on Preserving European Civilisation, Culture and Values.

In his speech he stated: “In Britain they have erected a statue to a card-carrying communist terrorist in Parliament Square.” The statue is of Nelson Mandela.

With its chairman having resigned, the community council has had to cancel its meeting scheduled for Monday night and is now in “abeyance”.

In a statement on its website the community council stated: “Foulden, Mordington and Lamberton Community Council has accepted the resignation of Gregory Lauder-Frost as chairman of the community council. All members would like to thank Gregory for his service and hard work over recent years.

“Due to the current lack of councillors and hence a Quorum, the community ouncil is going into a temporary period of abeyance, during which time it is anticipated that the community at large will focus on the future of the community council and its operation.

“It is hoped that new members of the community will come forward to serve on the community council.”

Asked if the council had previously been aware of Lauder-Frost’s political views, treasurer Julia Trotter told The National: “I am not interested in talking to you.

“As a community council we are non-political.”