Man jailed for 'stirring up' racial hatred during riots
A man has been jailed after publishing written material to stir up racial hatred during last month's riots.
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Eshan Hussain, 25, of Coventry Road, Yardley, admitted to offences at an earlier hearing, being sentenced to two years and four months at Birmingham Crown Court today.
Hussain used a fake name belonging to an innocent member of the public to post numerous and vile messages on Telegram, in a chat group containing over 12,000 members.
The incident took place during the period of national unrest in August, with screen shots of the unrest showing a call for disorder in Alum Rock and Bordesley Green in Birmingham and inciting violence.
Chief Superintendent Richard North, from Birmingham, said: "This has been an excellent but complex investigation.
"We would like to thank members of the public for alerting us to these posts which was crucial at a time when we were seeing lots of rumour, speculation and misinformation online, we know this can be extremely harmful to all of our communities.
"We do not tolerate violence in our towns and cities, or tolerate those who use social media to encourage such violence."
Officers were also made aware that a member of the public who is unrelated to Hussain was wrongly identified as being the source of the messages.
The man is being spoken to and supported by officers.
