UK woman jailed for ‘blow up mosque’ Facebook post after Southport riots
Al Jazeera
Julie Sweeney was sentenced to 15 months in jail after pleading guilty to sending communications that ‘threaten death or serious harm’.
A 53-year-old woman has been sentenced to 15 months in jail in the United Kingdom for posting a comment on Facebook that mosques should not be protected and should be “blown up with the adults in it”.
Julie Sweeney, from Church Lawton, Cheshire, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to sending communications on a Facebook group that “threaten death or serious harm”.
Sarah Badrawy, prosecuting, told the court that one of the group’s 5,100 members grew “uneasy” about several comments posted on the site following riots that started after the stabbing of three girls in Southport on July 29.
Sweeney reacted to a Facebook image showing white and Asian individuals participating in the cleanup after violent disorder in Southport by posting: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. Don’t protect the mosques. Blow the mosque up with the adults in it.”
John Keane, for the defence, said “this was a single comment on a single day”.
