Post date: Aug 17, 2011 3:1:10 PM
Judge sends two men to jail for four years as punishment for using Facebook to attempt to start riots, even though their individual online campaigns were unsuccessful.
CHESHIRE POLICE - Jordan Blackshaw and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan waged separate Facebook campaigns in an attempt to start riots in their home towns in the north of England during last week's violent looting across many parts of England.
On Tuesday (August 16) a judge sentenced them to fours years behind bars, even though their Facebook incitement had failed to prompt trouble in Northwich and Warrington, in Cheshire.
20-year-old Blackshaw wrote on his page "We'll need to get this kickin off all over," as he appealed for people to gather in Northwich town centre last Tuesday (August 9).
Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, posted photos of people clashing with police on his Facebook page and he invited people to "riot" in Warrington in the evening of Wednesday (August 10).
Police were alerted to the social networking pages after calls from concerned members of the public.
In court the defendants admitted committing the offences, which can carry a sentence of 10 years. Jailing them for four years the judge heard that they were of previously good character.
Assistant Chief Constable for Cheshire police, Phil Thompson, said if police had not stepped in and arrested the pair as soon as they were alerted to the Facebook pages, a lot of damage could have been done.
"Hundreds of thousands of pounds, maybe millions of pounds of damage could have been caused. The fact is that when you get an unruly mob together they generate a momentum of their own. In doing so, many people would have been committing criminal offences all at the instigation of these two men," he said.
Thompson added that the harsh sentence will act as a deterrent to others who might think they can use social media to start trouble.
Civil liberties campaigners have condemned the sentences, saying they are a knee-jerk reaction to last week's trouble.
Prime Minister David Cameron defended the judge's ruling, saying it would send a "tough message".
"What happened on our streets was absolutely appalling behaviour and to send a very clear message that is it wrong and won't be tolerated is what our criminal justice system should be doing," he said.
So far more than 2,770 people have been arrested in connection with last week's violence. More than 1,270 have appeared in court, with 64 percent being remanded in custody - a far higher proportion than normally seen in British courts.