Facebook user jailed for inciting racial hatred over social media posts targeting asylum seeker hotel

Jordan Parlour, 28, from Seacroft, Leeds, was sentenced to 20 months in prison after admitting to posting inflammatory content on social media that encouraged attacks on a hotel housing asylum seekers.

Between August 1 and August 5, Parlour used Facebook to urge others to target the hotel in Leeds, which was home to over 200 asylum seekers and refugees at the time. As a result of the online incitement, the hotel manager was forced to put the building into lockdown, and at least one window was broken after stones were thrown over the weekend.

On Friday, Parlour was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court, becoming one of the first individuals to be imprisoned for stirring up racial hatred since the recent unrest began.

Another man, Tyler Kay, 26, is also facing charges related to inciting racial hatred. Kay, whose online posts are linked to the ongoing disorder, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Friday, charged with publishing threatening, abusive, or insulting material intended to incite racial hatred. He has been remanded in custody.

These cases are among a handful where individuals have been charged with inciting racial hatred in connection with the recent unrest.

In another incident, former Labour councillor Ricky Jones, 57, is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being charged with encouraging violent disorder. Jones was filmed addressing a crowd during a demonstration in Walthamstow, London, on August 7, where he allegedly made remarks and gestures urging violence against far-right protesters.

In a separate case, a man from Wales has also been convicted for encouraging rioting via social media, marking another first since the recent disturbances. Richard Williams, 34, from Buckley, Flintshire, admitted to sending menacing messages via a public communication network after posting about participating in a riot and sharing derogatory content about migrants in a local Facebook group. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday afternoon.

Leeds Crown Court also saw the sentencing of Sameer Ali, 21, and Adnan Ghafoor, 31, who were jailed for 20 months and 18 months respectively for their involvement in an attack on "pro-EDL" protesters following rival demonstrations in the city. CCTV footage presented in court showed a group of Asian men kicking and punching a smaller group of four white men, one of whom was draped in a Union flag and wearing a Union flag mask.

In other related cases, four people are facing jail at Newcastle Crown Court for violent disorder in Sunderland, while in Southampton, Ryan Wheatley, 40, pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during a protest on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Gareth Metcalfe, 44, admitted to violent disorder in Southport on Tuesday, the day after three girls were killed in a fatal knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.

At Inner London Crown Court, Ozzie Cush is set to be sentenced for assaulting an emergency worker in Westminster on July 30. Meanwhile, Teesside Crown Court will see three Middlesbrough rioters and one Darlington rioter facing prison sentences, and in Sheffield, Kenzie Roughley, 18, will be sentenced for violent disorder outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

Suspected rioters are also appearing in magistrates' courts across the country, including in Liverpool, Llandudno, South Tyneside, and Wirral. At least a dozen people were jailed on Thursday for their involvement in the riots over the past 10 days.

The Prime Minister has stated that swift justice, including sentencing, has been an effective deterrent against further violent disorder.