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Facebook rioters become cause celebre as uproar grows
Two men from Cheshire who tried, unsuccessfully, to incite riots in their hometowns using Facebook have found themselves at the centre of a national media storm.
Jordan Blackshaw, 21, from Marston near Northwich, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, from Warrington, were both handed lengthy custodial sentences on Tuesday after pleading guilty, under sections of the Serious Crime Act, to intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence.
Blackshaw had created a Facebook event called "Smash d[o]wn in Northwich Town", calling on the ‘Mob Hill Massive Northwich Lootin’ group to meet behind McDonald’s in the town centre. His lawyer described it as “something which was started as a joke.”
Sutcliffe-Keenan apparently used his social media account while drunk in the early hours of 9 August to create the ‘Warrington Riots’ page. When he awoke the next day he removed the page and apologised, again claiming it was a joke.
However, the authorities at Chester Crown Court failed to see the funny side of the cases, with both men receiving four year sentences for their actions. There was no disorder in either Northwich or Warrington as a result of their actions.
The blanket media coverage of the cases has turned the two into unlikely symbols/fall guys of the recent disorder and the Government’s either robust or disproportionate reaction (choose your side) to the wave of unrest.
Comment sections and forums of national media platforms have been alive with perfervid posters from both sides of the fence, while the cases appear to have shaken the coalition government to its core.
David Cameron immediately came out in support of the judge’s action, stating: “They've decided to send a tough message and it's very good the courts feel able to do that” - a stance that has been broadly supported by his Conservative party.
Liberal Democrats, however, largely appear to think that the sentencing is heavy and, in context of how other courts nationwide have reacted to the unrest, disproportionate.
Deputy party leader Simon Hughes said rioters had to be dealt with “toughly and firmly” but added that the courts needed to “show understanding and relative leniency on first-time offenders and make sure that all the sentences don't just put people inside and pull them out again, but engage with the community."
To put the ‘Facebook sentences’ into context, Chester Court’s presiding judge for the case, Judge Elgan Edwards, said that he hoped they would act as a deterrent to would-be rioters.
Other crimes that carry a four year custodial sentence include offences such as kidnapping and killing someone whilst drink driving.
Both men are now said to be appealing against the sentences.
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Drunk and stupid is no defense. People are responsible for their actions regardless of their level of alcohol consumption. To say you a sorry post fact, and claim it is a joke is juvenile. Man up lads. You did the crime, do the time. Next time, keep your thoughts to yourself, and not post them on Facebook for the world to read.
What a load of bollocks this is, nothing actually happened because of their actions, can I be arrested for holding a lit match because iI could potentially burn something? This is a scapegoat reaction to stop us using social networks to organise this kind of thing, because if we did use them and we really did plan something there would be nothing anyone could to to stop us.
The sentences are ridiculous and reactionary. They divert attention from the real issues which will prevent further unrest and a greater divide between people in inner cities. The politicians have little room to take the moral high ground when most are corrupt to the core and are only interested in serving the corporations which got them elected in the first place. Sticking people in jail for long periods solves nothing (admittedly it gives a false comfort to some) but I would rather long term solutions and creating a fair society that has attainable goals for all.
Four years does seem a tad disproportionate for the offence. Ok they are idiots and anyone who creates a page inciting violence and rioting needs to be punished and have their heads examined for evidence of a working brain.
However, four years! People get four years for committing crimes such as Death by Dangerous Driving, Arson, Corporate Fraud, Phone Hacking, and Manslaughter.
With a prison population crisis looming, lots of looters and rioters being sent down quite rightly so for far harsher crimes, this seems a little OTT.
I'd personally like to see them cleaning up the neighbourhood, helping paint little old ladies’ garden fences.
The consequences weren't serious and the incitement wasn't serious.
But the riots weren't pranks so there isn't a comparison. The riots were wilful acts of violence.
A prank is just a prank. Obviously dumb but without any real intention to hurt or cause damage. What's that old saying? Would you stick your hand in the fire if I told you to?
Justice is about shades of grey, not just black and white kneejerk ill-considered reaction. These boys need a kick in the a** not 4 years in jail. They have to accept their punishment as fair if it is to have any affect.
These are nort 'boys' or 'lads' they are men behaving like lads, time to grow up and face up to their actions
Abu Hamza stood outside Finsbury Park Mosque for week after week over a couple of years inciting muslims to kill infidels by blowing them up with home made bombs - that's you and me probably. He got 7 years for 11 charges, one of which was attempting to set up a terrorist training camp. He was probably indirectly responsible for several deaths.
These two young men weren't even serious. They were drunk and in a state of diminished responsibility!
Judge Elgan Edwards needs to sit down in a dark room and have a talk to himself because his perspective is bizarre. Whoever he reports to needs to get him to have some conselling with a professional in the HR department at the Home Office.
I bet if you talked to those lads now they would be full of remorse and kicking themselves. I doubt that they will feel the same way after being banged up for almost nothing and I doubt that they will have any respect for justice or want to buy back into society.
Who else is Judge Edwards alienating as he sits in his cosy courtroom? Middle class middle aged men got us into this mess. I would like to suggest that they stop making things worse and stop digging a deeper hole for the rest of us that we won't be able to get out of.
We are already paying for unrest and resentment. We don't need more of it.
@ Nicky
A prank? So all the other riots and disturbances that were successfully organised via social media channels were pranks too were they?
These so-called pranks were the ones that cost lives, burned down businesses and ruined lives. Using the defence that these postings were meant as 'jokes' is unbelievable.
Lots of MP escaped prosecution by repaying their fiddled expenses. How about the rioters just have to hand back their looted trainers and pay for the damage? Or should we treat them like bankers and reward them for their crimes? Or is the real issue that they should have behaved like Met police officers and carried their loot in Sainsbury's carrier bags?