Man jailed over racist messages

[barmyarmy]

A man who posted racist messages on a website in memory of murdered black teenager Anthony Walker has been jailed for three years and two months.

copyright BBC Online 2006

Full story here.

A salutary reminder that people on then internet are not anonymous users free of responsibility for what they write. A zero tolerance policy on racism is not just keeping such despicable material off the website, it is also protecting members from prosecution.
Something to think about for everyone although I'm sure no-one on this website would be stupid enough to post racist views if they did actually hold them.

 

[sid_19840]

I think its the right thing to do.Just because we're not physically talking to others doesnt mean we can say anything we want,especially when so many people read our views on the internet.I just hope that this incident serves as a example that others dont follow.

 

[langerrox]

he should be jailed for life or fined severly, Its one thing to insult someone about personal appearance,weight or their interests but to insult someone who is deceased about their race is so wrong. You don't choose your race nor can you change it. That guy is a pathetic human being, Scum even.

 

[cricketmad09]

Seems a bit harsh? Not like he was the guy who killed him.

But in hindsight, I do agree that he should have been punished.

 

[langerrox]

Seems a bit harsh? Not like he was the guy who killed him.

But in hindsight, I do agree that he should have been punished.

maybe a bit harsh, but imagine your brother/sister died and you logged on to check messages to find racial abuse.,.

 

[sachin]

Well,on a fifa site i was on on recently and there were some of the most disgusting racist comments (About Romanians-Bulagerians wrote the messages),including graphic pornography.They were left to it for hours!I wonder if the guy above managed worse.I doubt it.Very much a pity that they don't seem to have laws for this kind of drivel in other countries!

 

[tassietiger]

Very harsh IMO. Should be a 'sticks and stones' policy towards it. He should be able to say as much idiotic racist crap as he likes, but the more he says, the less people will probably listen to him. If he was forming a cult and telling them that racism is 'the way' then I agree with him being jailed, but to be honest, I think it's far too harsh if he's only said stuff, and not done anything.

 

[langerrox]

Very harsh IMO. Should be a 'sticks and stones' policy towards it. He should be able to say as much idiotic racist crap as he likes, but the more he says, the less people will probably listen to him. If he was forming a cult and telling them that racism is 'the way' then I agree with him being jailed, but to be honest, I think it's far too harsh if he's only said stuff, and not done anything.

TT mate are you okay? that post wasn't a shot at warney, whats going on matE?

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Very harsh IMO. Should be a 'sticks and stones' policy towards it. He should be able to say as much idiotic racist crap as he likes, but the more he says, the less people will probably listen to him. If he was forming a cult and telling them that racism is 'the way' then I agree with him being jailed, but to be honest, I think it's far too harsh if he's only said stuff, and not done anything.

that was......weird wouldnt you be offended racisms trying to get cut down verywhere not just internet so it should have the same rules as it has on the streets!!!

 

[evertonfan]

The idiot got what he deserved in my opinion. Racism at any form should be punished severely because it's one of the biggest scurges on modern society at present. It's bad enough to be racist towards a person, but to be racist towards the deceased is double the blow.

 

[langerrox]

The idiot got what he deserved in my opinion. Racism at any form should be punished severely because it's one of the biggest scurges on modern society at present. It's bad enough to be racist towards a person, but to be racist towards the deceased is double the blow.

and the fact the guy was young and was murdered is triple/quadriple times as bad

 

[usy]

The idiot got what he deserved in my opinion. Racism at any form should be punished severely because it's one of the biggest scurges on modern society at present. It's bad enough to be racist towards a person, but to be racist towards the deceased is double the blow.

Agreed, I hate racism and racist C88ts.

 

[barmyarmy]

Very harsh IMO. Should be a 'sticks and stones' policy towards it. He should be able to say as much idiotic racist crap as he likes, but the more he says, the less people will probably listen to him. If he was forming a cult and telling them that racism is 'the way' then I agree with him being jailed, but to be honest, I think it's far too harsh if he's only said stuff, and not done anything.

I think TT has a point. The mark of a civilised society is tolerance and surely we are showing intolerance towards intolerant attitudes if we adopt punative measures. I think he should be forced to attend some kind of educational programme and do community service but I think it is a dangerous precedent to start jailing people for views expressed over the internet.

A women here in Scotland who embezzled ?14,000 from vulnerable and disable people has only received a 2 month sentence and yet it is possible to get nearly three years simply by typing some words with your keyboard and pressing the sumbit reply button.

 

[Sureshot]

I believe he got 2 years 8 months for the race hate crimes and 6 months for pornography charges.

Colin, the problem with the punative system over here is a complete lack of consistency. Some crimes get tougher sentences then they should, others far less than they should, I'm sure you'll agree?

Racial hatred is a problem in Britain, I think Jail sentences is the way the legal system and the government sees of stopping it. Will it work? Who knows. Whatever though we need to build more Jails, they're nearly full.

"During police interviews, Martin admitted posting the messages but insisted he was not racist.

He said he had intended to stir up an argument on the website but did not believe in what he had written."

Seemingly quite deluded, too.

If the sentences were the other way round, I'd be fine. Maybe the sentences were that long to avoid a media fury at a "light sentence"?

"At an earlier hearing before South Sefton magistrates, Martin was also convicted of 33 counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child."

So 33 counts of Child pornography is 4 times less severe than race hate crimes?

 

[tassietiger]

that was......weird wouldnt you be offended racisms trying to get cut down verywhere not just internet so it should have the same rules as it has on the streets!!!

Don't get me wrong, I hate racism just as much as everyone else, it's just I think there should be freedom of speech no matter how stupid the content. It's not as if he gains any respect by racially abusing a dead person. Germaine Greer came out and abused Steve Irwin after he died, why doesn't she get sent to jail?

But it is a bit hard to get an idea of how bad it was when we don't know what he said, I suppose.

"At an earlier hearing before South Sefton magistrates, Martin was also convicted of 33 counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child."

So 33 counts of Child pornography is 4 times less severe than race hate crimes?

I raised my eyebrows on seeing that too. Surely producing child pornography (fake or not) has always been a jailable offence. I'd expect him to be locked up for that before the racist comments.