YouCantPostThatMate

A blogger, Pete North, was arrested in Easingwold, North Yorkshire, on suspicion of a public order offence after posting a meme online saying “F*** Hamas, F*** Islam” and similar text. He was interviewed in Harrogate and later released on bail. The police cited Section 19 of the Public Order Act as the relevant offense. The defendant claims the post was political commentary and denies intent to stir up racial hatred.

Deborah Anderson, a cancer patient and member of the Free Speech Union, was visited at her home by a Thames Valley Police officer who demanded she apologise for a Facebook post that reportedly upset someone. The officer did not arrest her at the time but threatened to arrange an official interview. After the incident gained public attention, Thames Valley Police dropped the matter. The force says the case originated from a complaint about threatening language online.

Writer and Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence with a series of posts on X (Twitter) calling for police to "round up and deport" a protected group after an attack. Five officers detained him, and he was later bailed with a condition that he not post on Twitter while the investigation continues.

Liam Shaw, 21, from Birkenhead, sent two racist emails to then‑Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s public parliamentary address on 15 June 2024, suggesting he should be killed. Police traced the emails to Shaw’s mobile phone at a hostel and arrested him on 3 September 2024. He pleaded guilty at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court to two counts of sending offensive and menacing communications via a public network. The court sentenced him to 14 weeks’ imprisonment (suspended for 12 months), ordered 20 days of rehabilitation and imposed a two‑year restraining order preventing contact with Mr Sunak:contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12}.

In May 2024, a woman (referred to as “Sarah”) was arrested by Metropolitan Police after posting in a Facebook group about her ex-partner, who is a serving Met officer. She warned other women about his past behaviour and messaged him before blocking his number. Officers arrived at her home early morning, seized her phone and computer, and held her in custody for about 12 hours before releasing her without charges. The court later dismissed the ex-partner’s application for a non-molestation order, with the judge criticising the use of police resources in the case. “Sarah” has made a formal complaint over abuse of power, which was rejected internally.

Trainee pharmacist Mohammed Al Accad sent an antisemitic message to the Israel Society at the University of Central Lancashire on 7 October 2023. He admitted sending a grossly offensive communication and was fined £675 plus costs and a victim surcharge at Preston magistrates’ court.

Essex Police visited Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson at her home on Remembrance Sunday 2024 over a social media post alleged to incite racial hatred. The post, made in November 2023, showed police officers beside men holding a Pakistani political flag and was captioned with criticism of police refusing to pose with pro-Israel demonstrators. Pearson said she was shocked by the visit and initially told it was over a 'non-crime hate incident,' which the force denied. Essex Police stated the investigation concerned a possible offence of inciting racial hatred online. Political figures including Boris Johnson and Chris Philp criticised the police action, framing it as a free speech issue.

Savills estate agent Andrew Bone posted a racist comment about England footballers after the Euro 2020 final and claimed his account had been hacked. He was arrested in July 2021 and, following a trial adjournment, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to sending a grossly offensive message; sentencing was scheduled for February 2025.

Lucy Connolly posted on X to her 10,000 followers calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire and demanding mass deportations after the Southport knife attack. She pleaded guilty to publishing a social media post intending to stir up racial hatred and was sentenced at Birmingham crown court to 31 months’ imprisonment.

Burnley supporter John Southwell posted a racist comment on Facebook about Chelsea footballer Nicolas Jackson. He pleaded guilty at Blackburn magistrates’ court to sending a grossly offensive message and was fined and given a three-year football banning order as well as a community order.

Shane McAndrew, from Penarth, South Wales, posted Facebook messages about public disturbances in July 2024 that encouraged violent behaviour. He admitted sending an offensive message via a public communications network and was sentenced at Cardiff magistrates’ court to an 18-month community order with unpaid work and a thinking-skills programme.

Nathan Thompson, 25, from Newcastle, ran two X (Twitter) accounts that shared extreme right‑wing, racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic and transphobic content. Counter‑Terrorism Policing traced the accounts and arrested him in July 2023. Thompson admitted six offences of inciting racial hatred and two malicious communications offences. Newcastle Crown Court heard that his tweets celebrated Adolf Hitler and dehumanised refugees. The judge said each tweet fanned the flames of division but, noting Thompson’s learning difficulties, imposed a 16‑month prison term suspended for two years and ordered his internet use to be monitored:contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14}.

Julie Sweeney, 53, from Church Lawton, Cheshire, was jailed for 15 months at Chester Crown Court after posting in a community Facebook group that a mosque should be blown up. She pleaded guilty to sending communications threatening death or serious harm following unrest linked to the Southport riots.

Billy Thompson was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison after commenting 'filthy b******s' alongside a gun emoji and an ethnic minority emoji on a police post during the 2024 riots. The court ruled the emojis demonstrated a clear 'racial element.'

Lee Joseph Dunn, 51, of Egremont, was jailed for eight weeks at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to sending three 'grossly offensive' messages on Facebook on 30–31 July 2024. The posts were seen to risk worsening community tensions.

On 8 August 2024 Tyler Kay posted on X (Twitter) calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be burned. He pleaded guilty two days later to publishing material intending to stir up racial hatred under the Public Order Act and was jailed for 38 months, with the court stressing that his messages could incite serious disorder.

Aaron Johnson broadcast a live video outside a hotel in Leeds housing asylum seekers, making racist remarks and calling on others to join him. He admitted distributing a recording intended to stir up racial hatred and was remanded in custody pending sentencing.

Jordan Parlour posted Facebook messages urging people to attack a hotel in Leeds that housed asylum seekers. He pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour intended to stir up racial hatred under section 19 of the Public Order Act and was remanded in custody pending sentencing.

A 21-year-old London woman was charged for a post on X referring to Newcastle footballer Alexander Isak using the n-word. The case was flagged by race monitoring groups and referred to the Met. Media coverage raised concerns about the prosecution of Black people for language used colloquially within their community.

A 64-year-old man from Exminster, Devon, was arrested in June 2024 under the Communications Act after members of the public reported social media posts that caused fear and offence. Police said the arrest related to misuse of a public communications network; no charges were announced.

Radeko Keleman targeted a victim with more than 100 abusive messages on social media, including anti-Chinese and anti-Muslim slurs, and continued posting after warnings. He admitted sending malicious communications and racially aggravated public order offences and was sentenced at Harrow crown court to 32 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, with a hate-crime uplift.

Dean Podesta, 35, from Plymouth, used social‑media accounts to post more than 330 messages between March and September 2022 inciting racial hatred and hatred towards gay people. He pleaded guilty at Plymouth Crown Court to inciting racial hatred (Public Order Act 1986 s.19(1)) and to inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation (Public Order Act 1986 s.29C). The court sentenced him to 14 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months, ordered him to complete a 30‑day rehabilitation activity, and imposed a five‑year Criminal Behaviour Order restricting his internet use and prohibiting contact with victims:contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13}.

Six retired Metropolitan police officers shared racist, sexist and homophobic memes in a WhatsApp group between 2018 and 2022. They pleaded guilty to sending grossly offensive messages and were given suspended prison sentences at Westminster magistrates; the court noted the messages included racist slurs and jokes about rape and disabilities.

Michael Chadwell, a former Metropolitan Police officer, was found guilty of sending a grossly offensive racist WhatsApp message in a retired officers’ chat group. The message included a graphic of parrots above children of different races, with text: “Why do we cherish the variety of colour in every species… but our own?” and a reply: “because I have never had a bike stolen out of my front yard by a parrot.” The court judged this to be a clearly racist generalisation against Black people.

John Cowen from Morecambe threatened and racially abused a woman over social media for five months, saying he wanted to burn her home and calling for her lynching. He pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence and malicious communications and received a 12-month community order with rehabilitation and unpaid work.

Julian Foulkes, a 71-year-old retired special constable from Gillingham, Kent, was arrested by six officers at his home on 2 November 2023 after posting on X: “One step away from storming Heathrow looking for Jewish arrivals…” in reply to a pro-Palestinian activist. The post was flagged by the Metropolitan Police and forwarded to Kent Police. He was held in custody for eight hours, his devices seized, and later accepted an unconditional caution. In 2025, Kent Police formally withdrew the caution, expunged it from his record, and apologised for the distress caused.

Former West Mercia police constable James Watts shared memes about George Floyd and black people in a WhatsApp chat with former colleagues during 2020. He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sending grossly offensive messages and was sentenced at Birmingham magistrates’ court to 20 weeks’ imprisonment, with the court emphasising that his position as a police officer aggravated the offence.

Joseph Kelly, 36, was sentenced to 150 hours of community service (as part of a Scottish Community Payback Order) after being convicted of posting a “grossly offensive” tweet about Captain Sir Tom Moore, shortly after Moore’s death. The tweet said: “the only good Brit soldier is a deed one, burn auld fella buuuuurn.” Kelly had deleted the tweet roughly 20 minutes after posting.

During a Facebook livestream after the Euro 2020 final, Jonathon Best racially abused Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka and refused to remove the video. Willesden magistrates’ court jailed him for 10 weeks after he admitted sending a grossly offensive message via a public communications network.

After the Euro 2020 final, 49-year-old Bradford Pretty recorded himself making racist comments about England footballers and posted the video on Facebook. He admitted sending a grossly offensive message and was sentenced at Folkestone magistrates’ court to 50 days’ custody suspended for 12 months and 200 hours of unpaid work.

A 37-year-old man from Ashton-upon-Mersey handed himself in to police after posting racist abuse of England footballers on social media following the Euro 2020 final. Greater Manchester Police arrested him on suspicion of an offence under the Malicious Communications Act; he was later released pending investigation.

Conservative activist Joshua Spencer sent Facebook messages saying he had paid drug addicts to attack Labour MP Yvette Cooper. He admitted a charge of sending an offensive and menacing message via a public communications network and was sentenced at Leeds magistrates to nine weeks’ imprisonment and a restraining order.

Hertfordshire mother Kate Scottow was convicted at St Albans magistrates’ court of persistently using a public communications network to cause annoyance by tweeting about transgender activist Stephanie Hayden. The conviction under s.127(2)(c) was later overturned by the High Court, which found her tweets did not amount to persistent use and that criminalising them would be disproportionate.

Scottish comedian Mark Meechan uploaded a video in which he taught his girlfriend’s pug to make a Nazi salute when he said phrases such as "gas the Jews." Airdrie sheriff court found the video grossly offensive and convicted Meechan of sending a grossly offensive communication; he was fined £800.

Nineteen-year-old Chelsea Russell posted Snap Dogg rap lyrics containing the N-word on her Instagram profile as a tribute to a friend who died. Sefton magistrates found the post grossly offensive and convicted her of sending a grossly offensive message; she received an eight-week community order, electronic curfew and was ordered to pay costs.

After the Grenfell Tower fire, Omega Mwaikambo took photographs of a partly covered body and uploaded them to Facebook. He was arrested and pleaded guilty to two counts of sending grossly offensive images via a public communications network; Westminster magistrates sentenced him to three months in prison.

Rowan O’Connell, 23, from Lytham St Annes, was fined after posting offensive remarks on Reddit following the death of 18-year-old Mzee Mohammed, who died after falling ill while detained by police in Liverpool ONE. Using the alias 'Rolfy420,' O’Connell described Mzee as a 'spice smoking, Toxteth monkey' and dismissed public concern. A police officer conducting online monitoring flagged the post. At Sefton Magistrates’ Court he pleaded guilty to sending a communication of an indecent or offensive nature, was fined £275 and ordered to pay £115 in costs. His employer’s Facebook page was later targeted by backlash, leading to him losing his job.

A 43-year-old woman linked to the Blinks of Bicester beauty salon was arrested by Thames Valley Police after a Facebook post declared the business would no longer accept clients of the 'Islamic faith' in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. The post sparked hundreds of critical responses online, accusing the salon of racism and bigotry. Police confirmed she was arrested on suspicion of producing malicious communications and of displaying written material intended to stir up racial hatred under the Public Order Act. She was later released on bail pending further investigation.

Ross Loraine, 19, was arrested after posting a joke on Twitter about the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy, which resulted in six deaths. Police acted after being 'inundated' with complaints from the public, illustrating the speed of police intervention in high-profile national tragedies.

Twenty-year-old Jordan Barrack drew phallic symbols on a photograph of a police officer and posted the image to Snapchat and Facebook. He pleaded guilty at Boston magistrates' court to sending a grossly offensive image and was ordered to complete 40 hours of unpaid work, pay compensation to the officer and cover costs.

A man was sentenced after posting a “tasteless” comment on Facebook in relation to the murder of teacher Ann Maguire. The remark was deemed grossly offensive, and he was found to have breached the law on communications.

A 19-year-old from Kent was arrested after posting an image of a poppy being set alight on Remembrance Sunday with an offensive caption directed at the military. The arrest was made following public outrage, though civil liberties groups criticized the police intervention as a 'heckler’s veto.'

Matthew Woods, 19, posted highly explicit jokes on Facebook about missing five-year-old April Jones and Madeleine McCann. He pleaded guilty at Chorley magistrates’ court to sending a grossly offensive message via a public communications network and was sentenced to 12 weeks in a young offenders’ institution.

After six British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, Azhar Ahmed wrote on Facebook that "all soldiers should die and go to hell," arguing that civilian deaths were ignored. He was charged with sending a grossly offensive message; the Crown Court at Huddersfield convicted him under the Communications Act and ordered a two-year community order with unpaid work.

Semi-professional footballer Daniel Thomas was arrested after sending a homophobic slur to Tom Daley and his partner Peter Waterfield on Twitter. He was ultimately not charged as the case helped trigger a softening of prosecutorial guidelines regarding 'misguided' posts.

A 17-year-old was arrested and issued a harassment warning after tweeting Olympic diver Tom Daley, telling him he had 'let his dad down' following a poor performance. The tweet referenced Daley's recently deceased father.

Liam Stacey, a 21-year-old student, posted racially offensive comments on Twitter after footballer Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch. While the initial tweet was offensive, the court focused on the subsequent racist abuse directed at those who challenged him. He was sentenced to 56 days in prison.

During the 2011 England riots, Jordan Blackshaw and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan created Facebook events calling for people to riot in Northwich and Latchford. They pleaded guilty to intentionally encouraging others to commit indictable offences and were each sentenced at Chester crown court to four years in youth detention for encouraging riot and disorder.

On 13 January 2010, trainee accountant Paul Chambers tweeted that Robin Hood Airport had closed and joked that he would "blow the airport sky high." He was arrested and convicted at Doncaster magistrates in May 2010 of sending a menacing tweet under the Communications Act. After a two-year legal battle, the High Court quashed the conviction, holding that the message was a joke not intended to menace.