A 53-YEAR-OLD keyboard warrior has become the first woman jailed for stirring up hate on social media after posting “blow up the mosque”.
Julie Sweeney was sent to prison today for 15 months after she sent the vile comment to her local community Facebook group in Kidsgrove, Cheshire.
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Sarah Badrawy, prosecuting, told the court one of the group’s 5,100 members became “uneasy” at a number of comments posted on the site in the wake of widespread violent disorder.
Following the posting of a photograph which showed a number of white and Asian people working together 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.”
The message was later reported to the police, and they arrested Sweeney, who told officers: “I’m not being rude, but there are a lot of people saying it.”
Sweeney 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.”
Sweeney pleaded guilty to sending a communication to convey a threat of death or serious harm.
Although a number of men have already been banged up behind bars for stirring up hate on social media, Sweeney is the first woman to be jailed.
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.”
He said the timing of the “awful comment” was “extremely important” given the events of recent weeks.
The judge added: “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 Judge Everett continued: “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.”
It comes as prison sentences continue to be handed out following recent disorder and rioting in the UK and rioting,sparked by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport on July 29.
Rioters responsible for recent violence across the country have been having their court cases fast-tracked to warn others of the consequences.
Police chiefs said the number of arrests from the recent riots and disorder had topped 1,000.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council said on Wednesday that 1,024 people had been arrested and 575 charged. It expects the arrests to continue for months.
