disgusting and inflammatory language,” Judge Steven Everett said when sentencing her to 15 months, The Telegraph reported.
“In circumstances such as these, even people like you need to go to prison because a message must go out that if you do these terrible acts the court will say to you, ‘you must go to prison.'”
The suspect in the Southport attack was named by police as Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, a second-generation Rwandan immigrant.
The mass stabbing sparked violent protests across the UK after false reports claimed Rudakubana was a Muslim asylum seeker. Approximately 600 people were arrested, with over 150 reportedly charged since July 30. Some have been accused of targeting mosques and immigration centres. Muslim men armed with knives and machetes were also out in the streets and attacking protesters.
In response to public comments on social media, London’s Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley threatened to have US citizens extradited for making incendiary posts.
Earlier this month, a group of religious leaders, including Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, signed a joint statement sent to The Times of London denouncing the violence and commending those working to repair the damage.
Other signatories include Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, Chief Imam and Director General of the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society Sayed Razawi, and Imam Qari Asim, chairman of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board.
“Over the last few days we have watched in horror as a small minority has brought hatred, violence and vandalism to towns and cities across the country,” read the statement, in part.
“We have seen anti-Muslim hatred and the targeting of mosques; asylum seekers and refugees attacked; violence directed towards the police and private property, all of which are a stain on our national moral conscience.”
