Facebook user first to be jailed for stirring up racial hatred following riots

A Facebook user who encouraged people to attack a hotel housing asylum seekers has become the first person to be jailed for stirring up racial hatred following widespread disorder across the country.

Jordan Parlour, 28, admitted posting on the social media platform between August 1 and August 5 urging others to target the building in Leeds, which at the time was housing more than 200 asylum seekers and refugees.

The hotel manager put the building into lockdown on Saturday due to the disorder in the city, and at least one window was broken after stones were thrown over the weekend.

On Friday, Parlour, of Seacroft, Leeds, was jailed for 20 months at Leeds Crown Court.

He is one of two men who faced jail on Friday for stirring up racial hatred, as 26-year-old Tyler Kay is due to appear at Northampton Crown Court charged with publishing written material which was threatening, abusive or insulting, intending thereby to stir up racial hatred.

Kay’s online posts are also connected to the widespread disorder, and he was previously remanded in custody.

The pair are two of a handful of cases in which suspects have been charged with stirring up racial hatred since the widespread disorder began.

Elsewhere, former Labour councillor Ricky Jones, 57, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being charged with one count of encouraging violent disorder after he was filmed addressing a crowd at a London demonstration on Wednesday evening.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: “Jones was filmed addressing a crowd in Walthamstow on Wednesday August 7 during which he appeared to make remarks and a gesture to encourage others to act violently towards far-right protestors.”

In another first since the recent widespread disorder began, a man who encouraged people to start a riot on social media became the first person from Wales to be convicted.

Richard Williams, 34, of Buckley, Flintshire, posted about taking part in a riot and shared a derogatory meme about migrants in a local Facebook group dedicated to protests, Mold Magistrates’ Court heard.

Williams pleaded guilty to one count of sending menacing messages via a public communication network and will be sentenced on Friday afternoon.

Joining Parlour at Leeds Crown Court were Sameer Ali, 21, and Adnan Ghafoor, 31, who were jailed for 20 months and 18 months respectively for an attack on “pro-EDL” protesters after rival demonstrations in the city.

The court was shown CCTV footage of a group of Asian men kicking and punching a smaller group of four white men, one of whom was draped in a Union flag and wearing a Union flag mask, on Saturday.

Four people also face jail at Newcastle Crown Court following violent disorder in Sunderland.

In Southampton, Ryan Wheatley, 40, pleaded guilty to assault by beating of a police officer at a protest in the city on Wednesday.

Gareth Metcalfe, 44, admitted violent disorder in his home town of Southport on Tuesday, the day after three girls were killed in a fatal knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.

At Inner London Crown Court, Ozzie Cush will be sentenced for assaulting an emergency worker in Westminster on July 30.

Teesside Crown Court will see three Middlesbrough rioters and one Darlington rioter face prison sentences and in Sheffield, Kenzie Roughley, 18, will be sentenced for violent disorder outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

Suspected rioters will also be appearing in magistrates courts across the country, including in Liverpool, Llandudno, South Tyneside and Wirral.

At least a dozen people were jailed on Thursday for their part in the riots of the past 10 days.

The Prime Minister said swift justice, including sentencing, has been a deterrent to more violent disorder.

Published: 09/08/2024 by Radio NewsHub