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A woman has been jailed for 15 months after admitting to posting a threatening Facebook message encouraging people to blow up a mosque.
Julie Sweeney, 53, commented on a photograph on a local Facebook community group showing a number of people cleaning up the aftermath of the Southport riot.
She wrote on August 3: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. Don’t protect the mosques. Blow the mosques up with the adults in it.”
Upon her arrest, she told officers: “I’m not being rude but there are a lot of people saying it.”
She was sentenced on the day a number of offenders involved in the far-right riots to be jailed.
Earlier, a man who kicked a female police officer to the ground and joined an attack that left nine cars damaged in Hull was jailed for three years.
Connor Whiteley, 26, admitted violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker after playing a “prominent role” in “racist, hate-fuelled mob violence” in the city on 3 August.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council said 1,024 people had been arrested and 575 charged following days of violence across England and Northern Ireland.
The Crown Prosecution Service expects the number to grow as more charges against suspects are authorised.
Former milkman jailed for charging at police in London
A man who took part in the disorder at Whitehall on the evening of July 31 has been sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Former milkman David Probert, 50, of Hertfordshire, appeared at Inner London Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to one charge of violent disorder.
Footage played to the court showed Probert repeatedly lunging and charging at police who were attempting to diffuse the situation.
He was one of the more than 100 people to be arrested after protesters clashed with police officers during a demonstration.
A statement read out in court on behalf of Probert claimed he attended the protest after being left “very upset” by the murder of three girls in Southport on July 29.
The court also heard that he had recently been diagnosed with autism and suffered from a number of mental health issues.
Sentencing, Judge Benedict Kelleher told the defendant: “Violent protest cannot be tolerated. Those who engage in such violence can expect to receive serious sentences to punish and deter people from taking part in similar behaviour.”
Judge calls woman jailed for Facebook comment ‘keyboard warrior’
Sentencing, Judge Steven Everett told Julie Sweeney: “You should have been looking at the news and media with horror like every right-minded person. Instead you chose to take part in stirring up hatred.
“You were part of a Facebook account which had 5,100 members. You had a big audience. You threatened a mosque, wherever it was. It truly was a terrible threat.
“So-called keyboard warriors like you must learn to take responsibility for your disgusting and inflammatory language. The timing was extremely important. You made that awful comment in a particularly social climate that we have all been going through.
“You had an impressionable audience and potentially a vulnerable audience. Your comment was recklessly made rather than intentionally but appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.”
He said he took into account Sweeney’s previous good character and a “heart-rending letter” from her husband but went on: “In circumstances such as these, even people like you need to go to prison because a message must go out that if you do these terrible acts the court will say to you ‘you must go to prison’. I’m afraid that’s what I have to say to you today.”
Sweeney, who appeared in court via a videolink from HMP Styal, replied: “Thank you your honour.”
Man who drove 50 miles with teenaged son to Rotherham riot jailed
A 38-year-old man who drove more than 50 miles to hurl racist abuse at police during rioting in Rotherham has been jailed for two years and eight months at Sheffield Crown Court.
Stuart Bolton, who runs a ground-working business, was filmed angrily shouting at a line of police officers protecting the Holiday Inn Express, which was housing more than 200 asylum seekers, on Sunday August 4.
The footage, played in court, showed Bolton screaming abuse and goading officers in riot gear as his partner attempted to calm him down.
The court heard how Bolton, of Manchester Square, New Holland, had driven with his partner and his 15-year-old son from his home in North Lincolnshire when he found out about the ongoing protest.
The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, said: “You were encouraging the remainder of the crowd around and about you to engage in violence.”
The judge also confiscated the Mercedes car Bolton used to drive to Rotherham, after hearing he was disqualified from driving and had no insurance, and banned him from driving for three years.
‘There are a lot of people saying it,’ says woman jailed for Facebook comment about blowing up mosques
A woman who has been jailed for a Facebook comment saying “Blow the mosques up with the adults in it” told officers “there are a lot of people saying”
Julie Sweeney, 53, sent the comment on August 3 to a local community Facebook group from her home in Church Lawton, Cheshire, which was later reported to the police.
Upon her arrest she told officers: “I’m not being rude but there are a lot of people saying it.”
John Keane, defending, said: “She accepts it was stupid. This was a single comment on a single day.
“She lives a quiet, sheltered life in Cheshire and has not troubled the courts in her long life. Her character references show she lives a kind and compassionate lifestyle. She has been primary carer for her husband since 2015.
“This conduct is firmly out of character for her and she has shown genuine remorse.
“This offence was committed on her computer in the safety of her own home and unfortunately pressing ‘send’ for her is going to have dire consequences.”
Woman who made online threats to blow up a mosque jailed
A woman who posted a threatening Facebook message suggesting people “blow up a mosque with adults inside” has been jailed for 15 months.
Julie Sweeney, 53, Lawtongate Estate in Church Lawton, Cheshire, was jailed at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday after she admitted to sending the message on August 3 stating “don’t protect the mosques, blow the mosque up with the adults in it”.
Man who filmed himself breaking into Rotherham hotel jailed
A 49-year-old man who was part of a mob that stormed a hotel housing asylum seekers during rioting in Rotherham has been jailed for three years.
Father-of-three Trevor Lloyd filmed on a phone as the Holiday Inn Express was breached on Sunday August 4 and then followed a group of men in to the building through a smashed-in fire door, a judge was told.
Sheffield Crown Court was shown TikTok footage of the crowd breaking in to the hotel, bringing items including furniture and fire extinguishers outside and then throwing them at a line of police officers holding riot shields who were forced to retreat by the barrage.
The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC – who has already sentenced several people in connection with the Rotherham incident – said this was the “worst footage I have seen”.
Judge Richardson told him the hotel residents and staff “would have been terrified” when the mob smashed their way into the hotel building.
The judge said: “I have seen the footage of what occurred. It was frightening and alarming even to watch in the court room. It must have been utterly terrifying for those present, including the police officers.”
Richard Adams, defending, said his client had gone to the area to go shopping at the Aldi supermarket next to the hotel but “he made the foolish error of deciding to go and have a look” at the disorder.
Lloyd, of Oak Avenue, Rotherham, admitted violent disorder at a previous hearing.
Offenders should face more serious charge of rioting, says judge
A judge has encouraged prosecutors to consider charging offenders who played central roles in the recent disorder with rioting, a charge that carries a maximum term of 10 years.
Judge John Thackray KC said: “The prosecution do need to look, for those who are playing front and central roles, at the alternative charge of riot rather than violent disorder.”
Violent disorder carries a maximum sentence of five years, and the maximum term for rioting is 10 years, according to sentencing guidelines.
Bristol rioter who threw objects at police jailed for nearly three years
Dominic Capaldi, 34, has been jailed for 34 months for violent disorder in Bristol on 3 August.
Bristol Crown Court heard Capaldi was captured on police bodycam footage throwing objects towards officers in the city’s Castle Park, including while crowds chanted “send them back”.
The ground worker was also seen throwing objects at police who were trying to stop protesters from gaining entry to the Mercure Hotel, which is used to house asylum seekers.
Defending Capaldi, John Stokes told the court: “It is very sadly a case of ‘hindsight is a wonderful thing’, he recognises now with retrospect the foolishness of his actions on that day.”
Continued list of 16 people charged across the country
Martin McCluskey, 60, and Simon Orr, 38, have both been charged with violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker and will appear at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates’ Court in Staffordshire over the offences.
Zakaria Sadiq, 21, and Warren Gilchrest, 52, have both been charged with violent disorder and will appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court.
Lewis Carver, 31, has been charged with violent disorder and GBH without intent and will appear at Hull Magistrates’ Court, while William Riley, 64, will appear at the same court charged with violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker.
David Buckell, 39, and Nathan Palmer, 29, will also both appear at Hull Magistrates’ Court charged with violent disorder.
Niven Matthewman, 19, will appear at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court charged with violent disorder, while Michael Shaw, 26, will appear at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court charged with the same offence.
Michael Whitehead, 27, has been charged with violent disorder and will appear at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court.
Boy, 14, charged over London riot
A 14-year-old boy is amongst those charged over a violent far-right riot in Whitehall last month.
The teenager one of five people facing fresh charges announced by the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday, after chaos erupted at the ‘Enough is Enough’ protest in central London on July 31.
He was charged with a public order offence and will appear at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court on August 23.
Source: independent.co.uk
