First Prison Sentences for Inciting Racial Hatred Related to Recent Riots

(L) Undated photo of Jordan Parlour. (R) Undated photo of Tyler Kay. (West Yorkshire Police/PA; Northamptonshire Police/PA)

Jordan Parlour, 28, has become the first person to be jailed for inciting racial hatred related to the recent widespread disorder and rioting.

Parlour, of Seacroft in Leeds, was jailed for 20 months at Leeds Crown Court on Friday. Parlour had admitted to posting on Facebook between August 1 and August 5 messages which urged others to attack a hotel housing more than 200 asylum seekers.

Judge Guy Kearl, KC, noted during sentencing that Parlour had told police interviewing him that he had published the message “as a result of anger and frustration at immigration problems in the country.”

“You went on to say that you did not want your money going to immigrants who ‘rape our kids and get priority,’” Kearl told Parlour.

The judge continued that “you were encouraging others to attack a hotel which you knew was occupied by refugees and asylum seekers” and that the “overall effect of your post was to incite violence towards the building and therefore towards those in the hotel.”

He added that the defendant’s position was aggravated by the timing of the post, which was made during a period of unrest “and particular sensitivity across the country.”

Kearl said the offences were so serious “that an immediate custodial sentence is unavoidable.”

‘Online Actions Have Consequences’

Rosemary Ainslie, acting head of the CPS special crime and counter-terrorism division, said Parlour had “advocated violence through his online posts and risked the safety of those staying and working at the hotel.”

“He is now facing a prison sentence for his actions and I hope this serves as a stark reminder that online actions have consequences,” Ainslie continued.

“Let me be absolutely clear, people who think they can hide behind their keyboards and stir up racial hatred should think again,” the CPS acting head said.

Parlour was one of two men facing prison sentences on Friday for stirring up racial hatred online, the other being 26-year-old Tyler Kay.

Kay appeared at Northampton Crown Court charged with publishing written material which was threatening, abusive, or insulting, intending thereby to stir up racial hatred, and was sentenced to 38 months in prison.

The court had heard the father of three had posted on social media platform X messages calling for mass deportation and called for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set alight.

He also reposted a screenshot of a message inciting action against immigration solicitors.

Jail for an Attack on Protesters

Also sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on Friday were Sameer Ali, 21, of West Park Drive, Leeds, and Adnan Ghafoor, 31, of Spen Bank, also Leeds, for affray.

The two men had been part of a counterprotest which gathered outside Leeds Art Gallery on Saturday to oppose a much smaller anti-immigration demonstration.

Video footage shown to the court showed a group of Asian men punching and kicking a group of four white men, one of whom was draped in the Union flag.

Undated photo of Sameer Ali, 21, (L) and Adnan Ghafoor, 31, (R) who were jailed at Leeds Crown Court for 20 months and 18 months respectively. (West Yorkshire Police /PA Wire)

Both Ali and Ghafoor had earlier pleaded guilty to the charges. Ali was given a custodial sentence of 20 months. Ghafoor was also sent to prison for 18 months and was ordered to serve an additional 12 months for breaching an unrelated suspended sentence.

Graham O'Sullivan, representing Ali, had told the court his client was provoked by “Islamic threats and abuse” from the group of men, which included racial slurs and comments like “[expletive] Allah.”

Handing down the prison terms, Kearl—also judging this case—said “severe sentences” would follow those who participated in the violence.

Kearl continued: “The actions of the two of you are not to be viewed in isolation. This was a group attack involving in excess of 10 men in the circumstances of a heightened state of public concern and anxiety to which you have contributed.”

More Charges to Come

Dozens of others have been charged with offences related to the unrest. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said officers across the country have now made 595 arrests in relation to protests and rioting following the Southport stabbing attack.

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chairman of the NPCC, said more than 150 people had been charged, with “more to come.”

Riots broke out on July 30, the day after three young girls were fatally stabbed in Southport, after a false rumour was spread online that the perpetrator had been a Muslim illegal immigrant on a terror watch list who arrived in the UK on a boat.

The suspect behind the Southport attack was later named as 18-year-old Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents.

Rudakubana has been charged with the murder of the three girls and the attempted murder of 10 others, both adults and children.

PA Media contributed to this report.