A 53-year-old woman has been jailed after she admitted sending a threatening Facebook message stating “don’t protect the mosques, blow the mosque up with the adults in it”.
It comes as prison sentences continue to be handed out following recent disorder and far-right rioting.
Julie Sweeney was sentenced at Chester Crown Court to 15 months in prison after she admitted sending the message on 3 August.
Sweeney sent the comment to a local community Facebook group from her home in Church Lawton, Cheshire. The message was later reported to the police.
She pleaded guilty to sending a communication to convey a threat of death or serious harm.
The court was told Sweeney had never “troubled the courts” before and has been a carer for her husband since 2015.
Sentencing, Judge Steven Everett, the Honorary Recorder Of Chester, told 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.”
Sweeney appeared in court via a videolink from HMP Styal, in Cheshire.
Sarah Badrawy, prosecuting, told the court how one of the community group’s 5,100 members on Facebook became “uneasy” at a number of comments posted on the site in the wake of the widespread violent disorder following the deaths of three young girls in Southport on 29 July.
Following the posting of a photograph which showed a number of white and Asian people involved in the clean-up from the aftermath of the Southport disorder, Sweeney posted: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. Don’t protect the mosques. Blow the mosques up with the adults in it.”
Miss Badrawy said the concerned member found the posting “offensive” and “did not like reading it”.
The post was later deleted, the court heard.
Sweeney was arrested and told officers: “I’m not being rude but there are a lot of people saying it.”
She said she posted the comment “in anger”, had “no intention to put people in fear” and conceded it was “unacceptable” and that she would be “deleting Facebook”.
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.”
Rioters responsible for recent violence across the country have been having their court cases fast-tracked to warn others of the consequences.
Meanwhile, others have also been sent to prison on Wednesday for their role in the riots.
‘Racist, hate-fuelled mob violence’
Connor Whiteley, 26, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker after playing a “prominent role” in “racist, hate-fuelled mob violence” in Hull on 3 August.
He was jailed on Wednesday after Hull Crown Court heard Whiteley was at the front of a group confronting police trying to protect a hotel known to house asylum seekers.
He kicked the shield of a female police officer, forcing her off her feet and leaving her with minor arm injuries.
Whiteley was also part of a group targeting a garage, setting cars on fire and shouting threats at staff, who were forced to lock themselves inside.
While the attack was taking place, the judge said “members of the public, including children, were terrified and cowering only 20m away whilst threats were being made to kill them”.
Rotherham footage ‘worst judge has seen’
Whiteley was sentenced to three years in prison – the same term given to 49-year-old Trevor Lloyd, who was part of a mob storming a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.
The father-of-three, of Oak Avenue in Rotherham, filmed on a phone as he followed a group into the Holiday Inn Express through a smashed-in fire door, a judge heard.
Sheffield Crown Court was shown footage of the crowd breaking in, bringing out items including furniture and fire extinguishers and throwing them at police officers holding riot shields.
The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC – who has already sentenced several people in connection with this incident – said this was the “worst footage I have seen”.
Glen Guest, 60, of Pearson Crescent in Wombwell, South Yorkshire, was jailed for two years and eight months after he pulled a police officer to the ground at the same riot.
During the riot, more than 50 police officers were injured and there were attempts to storm and set light to the building.
Two jailed after Bristol disorder
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, while crowds chanted “send them back”.
The ground worker was also seen throwing objects at police who were trying to stop protesters from entering a hotel used to house asylum seekers.
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Daniel Russell, 47, from Bristol, has been jailed for 32 months after admitting violent disorder in the city on the same day.
Bristol Crown Court heard Russell was seen kicking a black man, who may have been part of an anti-racism protest, after the man broke through police lines separating the two groups in Castle Park.
The ground worker was then captured on footage shared on social media kicking out at counter-protesters stood in front of the entrance to the hotel.
‘Keyboard warrior’
Meanwhile, a 53-year-old woman, who lived a “quiet, sheltered life” was jailed for 15 months after posting a Facebook comment saying: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. Don’t protect the mosques. Blow the mosques up with the adults in it.”
Julie Sweeney sent the comment to a local community group on 3 August from her home in Church Lawton, Cheshire, which was reported to police.
Sentencing, Judge Steven Everett said: “I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the defendant would have been involved in that herself but so-called keyboard warriors like her have to learn to take responsibility for their language – particularly in the context of the disorder that was going on around the country.”
During her arrest, a court heard she told officers: “I’m not being rude but there are a lot of people saying it.”
Sweeney said she posted the comment “in anger” and agreed it was “unacceptable” – and that she would be “deleting Facebook”.
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Fake AK-47 ‘threats’ video accusation
A man accused of threatening serious harm and death with an imitation AK-47 assault rifle in a social media video viewed 1.4 million times denied the charges against him.
Habeeb Khan pleaded not guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to a charge of possessing an imitation AK-47 between 4-6 August with intent to cause “members of the EDL” (English Defence League) to believe unlawful violence would be used against them.
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Khan, 49, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, also denied sending a threatening communication between the same dates in a video uploaded to X.
Judge Simon Drew KC was told the defendant said he did not know the video was being circulated on social media and claimed he did not upload it.
