Two men jailed for social media posts that stirred up far-right violence

Two men have been sent to prison for stirring up hatred and violence online after the Southport attack, in the first cases of their kind linked to the recent riots seen across the country.

Jordan Parlour, 28, was jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred with Facebook posts in which he advocated an attack on a hotel in Leeds as part of the violent public disorder that swept England last week.

In Northampton, Tyler Kay, 26, was given three years and two months in prison for posts on X that called for mass deportation and for people to set fire to hotels housing asylum seekers.

They are the first people to be charged for posting criminal messages online linked to the recent far-right violence.

Elsewhere, a woman who pushed a burning wheelie bin into a police line before falling to the ground and being arrested was jailed for 20 months. Stacey Vint, 34, was sentenced for her part in the riots in Middlesbrough town centre on Sunday.

In Sunderland, a balaclava-wearing rioter identified by his distinctive tattoos was jailed for two-and-a-half years. Josh Kellett, 29, was identified by an anonymous member of the public who watched a live stream of the riot and contacted police to say they recognised a person throwing stones at police.

Kay, Vint, Bullock, Plain and Davies all pleaded guilty to their charges. Senior police officers have said rapid sentencing has helped act as a deterrent to far-right agitators. But those who are jailed will be entering a prison system at maximum capacity and could be released from prison early under a scheme to tackle overcrowding, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.

Last month, ministers announced they were changing the law to allow some criminals to leave prison early because of a lack of space. This means that prisoners who do not fall into exempt categories, such as those serving sentences for serious crimes, will be released under the new scheme after they have served 40% of their sentences, rather than 50%.

The release points for those convicted of involvement in violent disorder will depend upon the offence they are convicted of and the sentence they receive. Sentences for serious violent offences of four years or more, including arson and terrorism-related offences, are among those excluded from the early release scheme.