Julie Sweeney pleaded guilty to sending a communication to convey a threat of death or serious harm, per The Guardian. In response to a photo of people cleaning up an area affected by the protests-turned-riots in Southport after three young school girls were stabbed to death by the son of Rwandan immigrants, she commented, "It’s absolutely ridiculous. Don’t protect the mosques. Blow the mosque up with the adults in it."
The judge presiding over the case stated: "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 had a big audience. You threatened a mosque … It truly was a terrible threat.”
He added that "so-called keyboard warriors have to learn to take responsibility for their language – particularly in the context of the disorder that was going on around the country," and told Sweeney "even people like you need to go to prison."
Sweeney's defense attorney told the court "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." He added his client had accepted that what she wrote was wrong.
Her husband had also written a "heart-rending" letter to the judge to no avail and Sweeney was sentenced to 25 months in jail on Thursday. This comes after the UK declared that a dedicated team of authorities would be monitoring social media platforms for any materials deemed to be "inciting racial hatred" and would charge those who even comment or repost materials. Last week a man was jailed for posting emojis depicting minorities and a gun on Facebook. Another man was jailed for 3 years for copying and pasting a quote from the wife of a Tory councilor that was critical of mass migration.
