A man who posted a Facebook post which included emojis both of a person of ethnic minority and a gun has been jailed by a judge who said the sentence was needed as a deterrent to others.
Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard today that 31-year-old Billy Thompson wrote online in response to Cumbria police announcing the imposition of a dispersal order.
This came into force in the city centre yesterday in response to potential planned disorder.
Thompson had responded to this, said prosecutor George Shelley, “with the words ‘filthy b******s’ alongside an emoji of a person of ethnic minority and an emoji of a gun.”
Thompson, of Victory Crescent, Maryport, was arrested after screenshots were captured by a civilian officer acting as an intelligence researcher to capture evidence.
“When he was interviewed Mr Thompson admitted the offence but stated he did not know it was an offence to write this,” said Mr Shelley.
Thompson, from the dock, admitted that he sent — by means of a public electronic communications network — a message that was grossly offensive, or of indecent, obscene or menacing character.
The court heard Thompson had nine previous convictions for 13 offences, the last in October 2022, for failing to comply with requirements of community order.
Mitigation for Thompson was provided by defence solicitor Kate Hunter.
“Firstly this comes with an apology from Mr Thompson. I think that was reflected when he was arrested, and the interview, not realising that this could constitute an offence,” she told the court.
“He has pleaded guilty because he doesn’t intend to take this through to a trial. He appreciates the context that he finds himself, he appreciates the current affairs that we’re all aware of. He certainly says he won’t be repeating this mistake again.”
Of the criminal post and emojis, Ms Hunter said: “His version is that that comment relates to police, not to anything else.”
But district judge John Temperley disagreed.
“This offence, I’m afraid, has to be viewed in the context of the current civil unrest up and down this country. And I’ve no doubt at all that your post is connected to that wider picture,” said the judge.
“I don’t accept that your comments and the emojis that you posted were directed at the police. I’ve read in the case summary of the comments you made on arrest which clearly demonstrate to me that there was a racial element to the messaging and the posting of these emojis.
“That has to be reflected in the sentence as there does need to be a deterrent element in the sentence that I impose, because this sort of behaviour has to stop.
“It encourages others to behave in a similar way and ultimately it leads to the sorts of problems on the streets that we’ve been seeing in so many places up and down this country. This offence is serious enough for custody.”
Thompson was handed an immediate 12-week prison sentence.
