Woman, 53, is jailed over ‘blow the mosque up’ Facebook post in wake of Southport riots

A 53-year-old woman described as leading a “quiet, sheltered” life has been jailed for 15 months for posting a comment on Facebook saying: “Blow the mosque up with the adults in it. Julie Sweeney, from Church Lawton, Cheshire, admitted at Chester Crown Court that she sent a communication conveying a threat to kill or cause serious harm.

She was a member of a 5,100-strong Facebook community group. Commenting on a picture showing several white and Asian people sweeping up after disorder in Southport, she wrote: “It’s 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 like these, “Even people like you need to go to prison.” He jailed her for 15 months as he told 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 large audience. You threatened a mosque. It was a threatening letter. The judge added that “so-called keyboard warriors” such as Sweeney “have to learn to take responsibility for their language – particularly in the context of the disorder occurring around the country.”

The court heard Sweeney was the 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. The sentencing follows another busy day in England’s courts as cases were fast-tracked after the riots.

A judge has suggested at Hull crown court that prosecutors should charge offenders who played a central role in the rioting with an offense carrying 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 often be used as an alternative to a charge of violent disorder with a maximum term of five years. He commented as he was jailed for three years, a man who kicked a female police officer to the ground and damaged cars.

It was claimed Connor Whiteley, 26, played a “prominent role” in the “racist, hate-fuelled mob violence” in the city on August 3. 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 he 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. He admitted to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker. A 49-year-old father of three, Trevor Lloyd, was jailed for three years at Sheffield Crown Court 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 into 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.

The police chiefs indicated that the number of people arrested from recent riots and disorder had hit 1,000. The National Police Chiefs’ Council announced that by Wednesday, the number of arrested people reached 1,024, out of whom 575 had been charged. It expected the arrests to go on for months.