‘Keyboard warrior’ Julie Sweeney sentenced to 15 months on busy day for rioting cases in England’s courts

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.”

Sweeney was sentenced on another busy day in England’s courts as cases were fast-tracked after the riots.

At Hull crown court a judge said prosecutors should consider charging offenders who played a central role in the rioting with an offence that carries a longer jail term.

Judge John Thackray KC, the recorder of Hull, said the charge of rioting, with a maximum jail term of 10 years, should sometimes be used as an alternative to a charge of violent disorder, with a maximum term of five years.

He made the comment as he jailed for three years a man who kicked a female police officer to the ground and damaged cars.

Connor Whiteley, 26, was said to have played a “prominent role” in the “racist, hate-fuelled mob violence” that unfolded in the city on 3 August.

Hull crown court heard he was at the front of a group confronting police who were trying to protect a hotel known to house asylum seekers, and was seen charging at officers.

He was also part of a group that targeted a garage, setting cars alight and threatening staff, who were forced to lock themselves inside.

Whiteley pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker.

The court heard he kicked the shield of a female police officer, forcing her off her feet and leaving her with a minor injury to her elbow and forearm.

While the violence was taking place, the judge said: “Members of the public, including children, were terrified and cowering only 20 metres away whilst threats were being made to kill them.”

The judge added: “The prosecution do need to look – for those who are playing front and central roles – at the alternative charge of riot rather than violent disorder.”

At Sheffield crown court a 49-year-old father of three, Trevor Lloyd, was jailed for three years for his part in the mob storming of a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, which housed asylum seekers.

The court was shown TikTok footage of the crowd breaking in to the hotel, bringing items including furniture and fire extinguishers outside and then throwing them at a line of police officers holding riot shields who were forced to retreat.

The recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC – who has already sentenced several people in connection with the Rotherham incident – said this was the “worst footage I have seen”.

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.

The Guardian