An Asian man who stirred up racial hatred against Muslims after posing as a far-Right hooligan online during the summer riots has been jailed for more than two years, reports The Telegraph.
Ehsan Hussain, 25, used the fake identity of a “white” person called “Chris Nolan” calling for disorder in Birmingham as riots spread across Britain.
The chef posted numerous “vile” messages on the messaging app Telegram in a group chat with more than 12,000 members just hours before violence erupted in the city.
A court heard he called for disorder in the Alum Rock and Bordesley Green areas and incited racial violence in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
He urged people to “conquer Alum Rock” and wrote “Birmingham first! We need to take back whats ours” as well as “we doing p— bashing”.
In a separate chat with someone else, Hussain appeared to admit what he had done and encouraged them to fool the extreme Right by using a “white name” to become part of the group and that “he would be surprised how thick they are”.
Hussain, of Yardley, Birmingham, previously admitted distributing threatening and abusive material intended to stir up racial hatred.
Rag Chand, defending, said that Hussain had shown a “colossal collapse of common sense” that “demonstrated an immaturity below his actual age”.
But sentencing him to two years and four months in prison, Judge Melbourne Inman KC said: “Sadly this is one of a number of cases that the courts have had to deal with arising from the civil unrest following the very tragic events of Southport that occurred on July 29.
“A number of people used that tragedy as an opportunity to sow hatred which lead to towns and cities up and down the country to be disfigured by racist violence, intimidation and damage.”
He said Hussain had used a chat group, which was “populated by those who held extreme Right-wing and racist views whose purpose was to encourage hatred”.
The judge added that during his posts Hussain had used “vile racist language” and it was at a time when people were using “copycat excuses for violence”.
Peter Grieves-Smith KC, prosecuting, told the court: “On August 5 this year police became aware of a series of screen shots obtained from a Telegram chat group that was called Southport Wake Up.
“The purpose of the chat site was to try and incite organised violence in the West Midlands area, focusing on the Alum Rock area of Birmingham.”
He said there was also focus on the Bordesley Green area and that was because they both had a high Muslim population.
Mr Grieves-Smith said the chat group used by Hussain had 12,500 members and there had been about 4,600 people online at the time, which he would have been aware of.
At one point during the messaging, in which he referred to “smelly scum bags”, Hussain said: “It is all about the kids. We are doing it for the kids.”
Mr Grieves-Smith said: “This is the defendant with others stirring the pot.”
On Aug 5, there was widespread disorder in the Bordesley Green area of Birmingham.
Males wearing balaclavas and surgical masks gathered outside an Islamic centre. Later, some of the mob moved on to Heartlands Hospital where doctors’ surgeries were forced to close.
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