I think a public apology, made outside Camden Town Hall would be interesting, he'd probably be safer in jail

The thing is, it's swings and roundabouts, on the downside, inciting hatred being illegal means that silly things like this happen, on the upside, things like the Westboro Baptist Church would never, ever be legally allowed to operate here.
On this I'm kind of in two minds, if I could rely on all humans to be rational, intelligent and moderate about things then it'd be a different story, but they aren't and I can't help feeling that sometimes we need to protect ourselves from ourselves. I think jailing the guy was more a question of showboating the 'we don't tolerate trolls' mentality that the UK is trying to cultivate at the moment than a reasonable reaction to what was done, but I also think that Freedom of Speech relies heavily on the ability to those speaking to do so in a mature manner, rather than simply using it as a thin excuse to pour insults and prejudice into the world.
Edit: This is why I consider the 'Modest Proposal' to be one of the greatest works of Free-Speech, because although it is 'inflammatory', it manages to achieve it whilst remaining intelligent, and the controversy is deliberately used to drive home a point. It is not merely controversy for the sake of being seen, instead it is controversy for the sake of letting other people see themselves.