Middlesbrough man posted vile racist abuse on YouTube videos

A man who posted vile racist abuse on YouTube videos was found to have a number of illegal weapons in his possession when police raided his home.

Mark McMahon made to online comments in the early hours of the morning where he called for all Jews to be killed and urged people to kill all the ‘foreign w*******’ after a news report was published in Australia.

When police raided the 61-year-old’s Middlesbrough home, they recovered two flick knives and a butterfly knife as well as a cannabis grow of about 20 plants.

Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, said McMahon admitted he had posted the threats because the videos, which had been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, made him “angry”.

He said the defendant was charged with “publishing written material to stir up racial hatred” in September and November last year.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the defendant wrote “the biggest threat to the world is vile, filthy f****** Jews – kill them all” and the second message read “I hope people realise that all of these foreign w****** are going to start stabbing everyone in sight – kill all these foreign w****** now”.

McMahon, of Bethune Road, pleaded guilty to publishing written material to stir up racial hatred, possession of three offensive weapons in a private place, and production of a controlled drug of class B – cannabis – following his arrest on November 11 last year.

Sarah Lish, mitigating, said her client lived close to the rioting that caused chaos in Middlesbrough town centre in August 2024 but there was no evidence at all that he had been involved.

“He doesn’t dispute that he posted those comments online,” she said.

“It is quite clear that he didn’t post that material, he didn’t generate that material, so his comment under the videos will have been viewed significantly less often than the video itself.

“There is no evidence that he has ever engaged in any direct action involving racial hatred.”

Judge Francis Laird KC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, passed a 12-month custodial sentence suspended for 18 months for all offences.

“It is clear from the evidence that the first YouTube video was viewed over a million times. How many people viewed your comment is unknown,” he said.

“The second video was again viewed by millions of people but it impossible to say how many people viewed your comment.”

McMahon was also ordered to attend 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

Northern Echo