Anyone who doubts the depths to which Britain’s Orwellian throught crime nightmare has become reality need look no further than the imprisonment of a 21 year old student for posting racially insensitive comments on Twitter.
Swansea University student Liam Stacey, 21, from Pontypridd, was charged with “inciting racial hatred” in a throwaway Twitter remark over black Bolton Wanderers player Fabrice Muamba, who collapsed during a FA Cup tie at Tottenham.
Mr Stacey was jailed without for 56 days for the Twitter comment, which the district judge in Swansea called the comments “vile and abhorrent”.
Sentencing Stacey at Swansea Magistrates’ Court, District Judge John Charles told him: “In my view, there is no alternative to an immediate prison sentence.”
Mr Stacey’s “crime” was to post up a message which said “”LOL (laugh out loud). **** Muamba. He’s dead!!!”
A number of people took him to task for his views and he responded with a further string of offensive comments aimed at other Twitter users.
While his comment was most certainly offensive, it is outrageous that he has been sent to jail. Since when did an insult become a criminal offence?
What is next? Is the state going to protect everyone against “insults” to height, weight, ethnic origin, hair colour?
In addition to being jailed, Swansea University suspended Mr Stacey.
Imprisonment is a draconian penalty by the standards of current sentencing guidelines. It may well lose the hapless victim his job and harm his employment prospects for years.
At this rate, one day even saying that Britain ought not to be a multiracial society, however moderately expressed, will be banned as “Hate Speech”.
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I would agree that Britain’s thought crime has become an Orwellian nightmare. but a better case than the stupid and malicious actions of student Liam Stacey could have been chosen to illustrate it.
“LOL. **** Muamba. He’s dead!!!” really is offensive – although it does not justify two months jail.
When the Public Order Act was introduced, some on the left complained it would make things worse. The right would be forced to make a case more politely and this would make it more effective.
The savage sentence was not intended to merely warn people off from the use of mindless abuse of this kind but to frighten away any dissent at all concerning the way Britain is going. The idea is to create an equivalence in people’s minds between a student mouthing off and rightist political argument. Best not risk it is the subliminal message. In fact, there is no such equivalence in law at the moment.
Everyone needs to remember that the left was right! Keep the message polite and it works better.
The Stacey case is yet another example of establishment hysteria and overreaction about ‘race’ related incidents, this has gone into overdrive since the riots. The reason is, the powers that be know everyone saw our cities being trashed on TV and that the game’s up and the truth is out. Therefore ‘dissenters’ must be crushed.
Mr Bean, with all due respect, I think you are wrong.The outrageously disproportionate prison sentence for an insult, no matter how vile, perfectly illustrates the Orwellian nightmare to which we are now subjected.
Banning Mr Stacey from Twitter would have been more appropriate than ruining his life with a prison record.
And they call us “extremists! It would seem that hurling him into jail is intended as a warning to others; but, as most commenters (not only Nationalists) I have come across condemn this extreme reaction to an admittedly offensive tweet (his language was appalling), I would say that this will backfire on them as usual, and make a lot more people question what the heck is going on in this country.
I find the most offensive component of this incident is not the remarks made, nor the sentence meted out, but the whole disproportionate attention afforded the no doubt sad news of Mr. Muamba’s ordeal.
O.K. do he suffered a heart attack. But not a day has passed without page after page of press reportage and media time. His first words. His first sit in an armchair. His first comments. etc. erc. etc. We have all seen the T shirts, wait for the book, the film the life story, the documentary and so on.
BUT, CONSIDER THIS.
Think for a moment of 15 year old Luke Chapman, WHO ?)
A couple of days after Mr. Muamba’s unfortunate collapse. Luke died after swallowing his tongue during a game of Rugby playing for his school. Cause of death, asphixiation. He died on the pitch because no-one knew how to react to a swallowed tongue.
This “real and fatal” tragedy was afforded about 10 column inches in the newspaper I read. The story since then has been as dead as poor old Luke.
I make no comment on the reasons for this imbalance of attention except to say that all true patriots and nationalists do not need to be told.
Son-of-Sommevet
What on Earth is Magistrates’ Court, District Judge John Charles thinking? This is not a case in which there is no alternative to an immediate prison sentence. What absolute nonsense. Judges should be a lot more balanced in their thinking and this man is obviously not fit to be a judge. I hope that one day a nationalist government will come to power and people like John Charles will be held to account for their anti-white bias.
This country has become a frightening place to live in. I no longer know where the law stands on these matters. I always thought that so long as there is no insightment to violence, free speech is acceptable.
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Muslims are allowed to hold up banners in the street insulting the British people. They are allowed to hurl abuse at Christians coming out of church. Free speech should mean free speech and that should be unconditional and it was until some people became more equal than others.
Sophie: Please read my initial comment again. I thought I made it clear that I agreed that Britain’s thought crime has become an Orwellian nightmare and that the case did not justify a two month jail sentence. I would add that a verbal warning from the court would have been sufficient.
As Mike Newland has pointed out we can take a hint from the practice of the Left. They have found that where they keep their message polite it is always more effective.
What they are doing making people so nervous about making any critical remark as to stamp out all criticism, insulting or not.
I bet Ms. Maureen Messent is dreading her case being heard by Judge John Charles. She’ll get years for her racial slurs.
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-blogs-views/birmingham-mail-columnists/maureen-messent/2012/03/15/maureen-messent-no-mystery-why-our-white-youth-is-failing-97319-30545977/2/
Oh wait. No she won’t. She was ONLY slagging whites. Silly me. She’ll get a promotion.
I listened to a radio 2 discussion about this incident. As expected even the few people calling in to support him had to bow down to liberal dogma and say how vile, disgusting, etc, his comments were.
The thing that really amazed me though, was how many of them said he should be ‘re-educated’ via some sort of compulsory course either as well as, or instead of, the prison sentence!.
Are people so blind that they can’t see just what they are asking for by suggesting the state do that sort of thing?.
To pinch the line from a Nirvana track, “just because your paranoid, don’t mean they’re not after you”!
A prison sentence for such an act of foolishness is over-reaction when muslims parade with placards filled with hate speech calling for death to the indigenous population. Yet again the law defers to the islamists; or is it simply a case of safety in numbers