Woman who called for mosques to be blown up is jailed

A 53-year-old woman who lived a "quiet, sheltered" life was jailed for 15 months yesterday for posting a comment on Facebook that said "Blow the mosque up with the adults in it".

- Mark Brown

Julie Sweeney, of Church Lawton, Cheshire, pleaded guilty at Chester crown court to sending a communication to convey a threat of death or serious harm.

She was part of a Facebook community group that had 5,100 members. Responding to a photograph that showed a number of white and Asian people involved in the clean-up after disorder in Southport, she posted: "It's absolutely ridiculous. Don't protect the mosques. Blow the mosque up with the adults in it."

Judge Steven Everett, the recorder of Chester, said in circumstances such as these "even people like you need to go to prison". He jailed her for 15 months telling her: "You should have been looking at the news with horror like every right-minded person. Instead you chose to take part in stirring up hatred. You had a big audience. You threatened a mosque... It truly was a terrible threat."

The judge said "so-called keyboard warriors" such as Sweeney "have to learn to take responsibility for their language particularly in the context of the disorder that was going on around the country."