Woman, 53, jailed over ‘blow the mosque up’ Facebook post after Southport riots

A 53-year-old woman who lived a “quiet, sheltered” life has been jailed for 15 months for posting a comment on Facebook which said: “Blow the mosque up with the adults in it.”

Julie Sweeney, of Church Lawton, Cheshire, pleaded guilty at Chester crown court to sending a communication to convey a threat of death or serious harm.

She was part of a Facebook community group which had 5,100 members. Responding to a photograph which showed a number of white and Asian people involved in the clean-up after disorder in Southport, she posted: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. Don’t protect the mosques. Blow the mosque up with the adults in it.”

Sentencing, Judge Steven Everett, the honorary recorder of Chester, said in circumstances such as these “even people like you need to go to prison”.

He jailed her for 15 months, telling her: “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.”

The judge said “so-called keyboard warriors” like Sweeney “have to learn to take responsibility for their language – particularly in the context of the disorder that was going on around the country”.

The court heard that Sweeney was the primary carer for her husband, who wrote a “heart-rending” letter to the judge.

John Keane, defending, said Sweeney accepted she had been stupid.

“This was a single comment on a single day,” he said. “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.”

Source Yahoo