An ‘armchair thug’ who used social media to urge far-Right people to ‘destroy people’ from a hotel housing 200 asylum seekers was jailed for 20 months today.
Jordan Parlor has become the first person to be sentenced over a Facebook post linked to the violent outburst that has swept the UK since the Southport murders on July 29.
The 28-year-old sign installer, who has been unable to take to the streets due to a broken heel, prompted protesters to target the Britannia Hotel in Leeds near his home.
Parlor was sent to prison by Recorder of Leeds Judge Guy Kearl KC at the city’s crown court this afternoon after being arrested on Tuesday.
He has pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred and using threatening, abusive or insulting words between August 1 and August 5 in connection with the disorder.
‘Armchair thug’ Jordan Parlour, 28, who has been jailed for 20 months at Leeds Crown Court
Jordan Parlor from Leeds can’t take to the streets alone because he has a broken right
It comes after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper hit out at ‘armchair thugs’ who fueled the violence during the unrest that has swept Britain over the past ten days.
Also today, Tyle Kay, 26, will appear at Northampton Crown Court charged with publishing threatening, abusive or insulting written material with intent to incite racial hatred.
His online posts have also been linked to widespread disorder, and he was previously held in custody.
Elsewhere, former Labor councilor Ricky Jones, 57, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being charged with one count of encouraging violent disorder after he was filmed talking to a crowd at a London demonstration on Wednesday evening.
In another first since the new widespread disorder began, a man who encouraged people to start riots on social media became the first person from Wales to be convicted.
Jordan Parlor turned to social media to incite protesters to target the Britannia Hotel in Leeds
Richard Williams, 34, Buckley, Flintshire, posted about taking part in the riots and shared derogatory memes about migrants in a local Facebook group dedicated to the protest, Mold Magistrates’ Court heard.
Williams pleaded guilty to one count of sending a menacing message over a public communication network and will be sentenced on Friday afternoon.
Four people were also jailed at Newcastle Crown Court after the violent disorder in Sunderland.
In Southampton, Ryan Wheatley, 40, pleaded guilty to assault by beating a police officer at a protest in the city on Wednesday.
Gareth Metcalfe, 44, admitted to violent disorder in his home town of Southport on Friday, a 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 will be sentenced for attacking an emergency worker in Westminster on July 30.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with Metropolitan Police boss Sir Mark Rowley and other senior officers in front of CCTV screens at Lambeth police headquarters in London today
Teesside Crown Court will see three Middlesbrough rioters and one Darlington rioter face prison sentences and in Sheffield, Kenzie Roughley, 18, will be sentenced for violent disorder outside a hotel seeking asylum in Rotherham.
Suspected rioters will also appear at magistrates’ courts across the country, including in Liverpool, Llandudno, South Tyneside and Wirral.
At least a dozen people were arrested Thursday in connection with the riot.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said swift justice, including sentencing, had been a deterrent to more violent disturbances.
