First men jailed for riot-related social media posts
The first jail terms for using social media to encourage disorder in the recent unrest have been handed down. Jordan Parlour is believed to be the first person to be sent to prison over social media posts made in relation to the nationwide riots. Unrest erupted after online posts falsely identified the suspected killer of three young girls in a knife attack in Southport. Parlour was sentenced to 20 months in prison at Leeds Crown Court after pleading guilty to publishing written material intended to stir racial hatred. UK riots latest: More than 700 disorder-related arrests so far. His mother submitted a note to court saying: "We can only speculate that he has been caught up and swept away by emotions circulating around the country." The 28-year-old wrote that "every man and his dog should smash [the] f*** out of Britannia hotel (in Leeds)" in a Facebook post in early August. Taking aim at asylum seekers in another post, he wrote: "They are over here given a life of Riley off the tax of us hard-working people earn when it could be put to better use... come here with no work visa, no trade to their name and sit and doss." The judge heard how the Britannia Hotel in Seacroft, Leeds, where 210 asylum seekers and refugees were living, was targeted by people throwing missiles and breaking windows, forcing it into "lockdown". Further damage was done to the hotel after the post, the court heard, and more than a dozen police had to be diverted to the area over the weekend. Parlour had suffered a broken heel and was at home when he wrote the posts, which were reported to the police. Passing sentence, Judge Guy Kearl KC said: "You took to social media in order to encourage others towards participation in the attacks upon the hotel. "The initial post received six likes. However, it was sent to your 1,500 Facebook friends and, because of your lack of privacy settings, will have been forwarded to friends of your friends. "The messages were therefore spread widely, which was plainly your intention."
Parlour was not the only person sent to prison for social media posts. Tyler Kay was jailed for 38 months after using social media to encourage people to torch hotels housing asylum seekers. The 26-year-old, from Northampton, called for mass deportations and his posts on X revealed a "fundamentally racist mindset", Judge Adrienne Lucking KC told Northampton Crown Court. The court heard Kay's posts called for mass deportation and advised protesters to "mask up". He also retweeted a screenshot of a message inciting action against a named immigration solicitors in the town. Judge Lucking said Kay posted as he did because he thought there would be "no consequences". "The overall tone of the posts clearly reveals your fundamentally racist mindset," she said. She added: "I am sure that when you intentionally created the posts you intended that racial hatred would be stirred up by your utterly repulsive, racist and shocking posts that have no place in a civilised society." The dad-of-three was convicted of stirring up racial hatred.
Richard Williams Williams, who encouraged people to start a riot on a local Facebook group dedicated to protests, became the first person from Wales to be convicted on Friday.
