First men jailed for riot-related social media posts

The first jail terms for using social media to encourage disorder in the recent unrest have been handed down.

Jordan Parlour is believed to be the first person to be sent to prison over social media posts made in relation to the nationwide riots.

Unrest erupted after online posts falsely identified the suspected killer of three young girls in a knife attack in Southport.

Parlour was sentenced to 20 months in prison at Leeds Crown Court after pleading guilty to publishing written material intended to stir racial hatred.

His mother submitted a note to court saying: “We can only speculate that he has been caught up and swept away by emotions circulating around the country.”

The 28-year-old wrote that “every man and his dog should smash [the] f*** out of Britannia hotel (in Leeds)” in a Facebook post in early August.