Racist Twitter user jailed for 56 days

**~~Treffie~~** · 03-27-2012, 07:29 PM

A student who admitted posting racially offensive comments on Twitter about footballer Fabrice Muamba has been jailed for 56 days.

Swansea University student Liam Stacey, 21, from Pontypridd, admitted inciting racial hatred over remarks about the Bolton Wanderers player, who collapsed during a FA Cup tie at Tottenham.

A district judge in Swansea called the comments "vile and abhorrent".

Muamba, 23, who suffered a cardiac arrest, is still in intensive care.

Sentencing Stacey at Swansea Magistrates' Court, District Judge John Charles told him: "In my view, there is no alternative to an immediate prison sentence.

"It was not the football world who was praying for [Muamba].... everybody was praying for his life."

Stacey broke down in tears as he was led away to begin his jail term.

As he passed the public gallery, he was briefly embraced by friends and his parents.

A second year biology student at Swansea, Stacey was arrested after his comments on the social networking site were reported by other users.

A number of people challenged Stacey on Twitter following his first comment, and he responded with a number of offensive posts aimed at other Twitter users.

Fabrice Muamba, 23, remains critically ill after collapsing during a match on 17 March

Last week the court heard how Stacey posted the offensive comments shortly after the former England Under-21 star collapsed during the FA Cup quarter-final at White Hart Lane on 17 March.

Magistrates were told police forces across Britain received complaints following the comments.

Stacey tried to "distance himself" from the tweets by claiming his account had been hacked, the court was told.

He later tried to delete his page but was arrested the following day at his student house in Swansea.

When interviewed by police, Stacey said he had been drinking since lunchtime on Saturday and was drunk when he made the comments.

Stacey was initially released on bail pending sentence and was ordered not to use Twitter and other social networking sites.

Jim Brisbane, chief crown prosecutor for CPS Cymru-Wales, said: "Racist language is inappropriate in any setting and through any media.

"We hope this case will serve as a warning to anyone who may think that comments made online are somehow beyond the law."

A Swansea University spokesperson said: "The student remains suspended from the university pending the conclusion of our disciplinary proceedings."

Stacey is also registered as a player with Treorchy rugby club, where he has turned out for the second team on occasions.

More people are likely to be prosecuted for making racist comments on Twitter, says media law expert Prof Duncan Bloy

A statement after his arrest said: "The club wishes to completely disassociate itself from these comments and will be carrying out a full investigation into this matter."

There has also been a reaction on Twitter to the sentence, with Lord Sugar - former Spurs chairman - saying "Be warned idiots!," while Gary Lineker posted "Let it be a warning to all you immature souls. #thinkbeforeyoutweet"

Muamba remains in intensive care in a London hospital where his condition is described as serious but stable.

Bolton and Tottenham play their re-arranged FA Cup fixture on Tuesday evening, with a minute's applause before kick-off.

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**~~Nglund~~** · 03-28-2012, 12:34 PM

Welcome to broken Britain, where an offensive comment and a few clicks can earn you a jail sentence while full-blown criminals are left unrestrained.

**The Lawspeaker** · 03-28-2012, 12:48 PM

Freedom of speech (however vile his words may have been) is dead. Welcome to IngSoc and the EUSSR.

**~~Odoacer~~** · 03-28-2012, 02:15 PM

Honestly it's difficult to feel very sympathetic toward his plight. Drunk & acting stupidly, tries to claim his account was hacked, then tries to delete it to avoid getting caught.

Still, it's absolutely absurd that anyone should be subject to any kind of civil penalty - much less a prison sentence - merely for saying mean things on the Internet.

**~~Padre Organtino~~** · 03-28-2012, 02:22 PM

This guy is certainly a prick but what was done to him is the worst case of PC thought police intrusion into personal life.

**AussieScott** · 03-28-2012, 02:28 PM

He would of been better off to be honest say he did it, but did not know it was a crime that carried a jail sentence, or any criminality associated with it. Then he may of had a slap on the wrist.

Or he could of dressed as a Gollywog to court and pleaded PC insanity.

**~~Teyrn~~** · 03-28-2012, 02:37 PM

Ban the guy from Twitter and maybe give him a fine for being a douche. Jail? Seems kind of excessive to me.

**~~Odoacer~~** · 03-28-2012, 02:48 PM

Liam Stacey gets 56 days in jail for tweeting. When race becomes an issue, all sense goes out of the window
By Ed West

A student in Wales has been jailed for 56 days for a “racially-aggravated public order offence” after making offensive tweets about Bolton player Fabrice Muamba, who collapsed with heart pains at White Hart Lane on March 17.

Liam Stacey, who had apparently being drinking all day, wrote "LOL, F*** Muamba. He's dead". His other tweets were just as appalling.

According to the BBC:

Magistrates were told police forces across Britain received complaints following the comments.

Stacey tried to "distance himself" from the tweets by claiming his account had been hacked, the court was told.

He later tried to delete his page but was arrested the following day at his student house in Swansea.

Despicable, of course, and society should shun him. But two months in jail? If you ever type in “suspended sentence UK” into Google News you’ll see just how many serious – and repeat – offenders escape custodial sentences in this country.

It’s a strange phenomenon that whenever race becomes a factor in anything, people lose their ability to reason. Remember how we gave up double jeopardy – an essential protection that the English had enjoyed for 900 years – because of a racist murder. The Macpherson report, which brought this terrible change about, even suggested that the Government should make it a crime to make racist remarks in the home. As Boris Johnson noted at the time, even in Ceauşescu’s Romania people were free to say what they wanted inside their own homes.

Because it is such a hysterical issue and people are terrified by the allegation of racism, race distorts all issues it touches, twisting people’s moral foundations and leading them to make remarkable mental leaps. As Anthony Browne notes:

It is a pattern in the US, Britain and elsewhere in Europe, that once ethnic minorities reach a certain critical mass in a country, then the politics of race defines the politics of every other issue: the imperative to combat racism overwhelms any other consideration, whether it is the environment, the working class, law and order, or even disease control. That is why a Labour government can announce a massive increase in immigration and a major housebuilding programme covering the South East of England in the same week and refuse to admit there is a link between the two.

The issue has turned the Left against pretty much all of their old causes or silenced them on issues that most concern the working classes. Today, for example, we hear that we are chronically short of houses, to such an extent that the Government is being forced to build new towns, which no one wants to live in, yet our entirely immigration-driven over-population is a subject no one on the Left, least of all the green movement, will touch.

And now with this ridiculous case we have the absurd, comical conclusion of the Left’s obsession with “hate crimes” – sending people to jail for saying nasty things.