Latest news with #JosephHaythorne
Telegraph
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Engineer jailed over Southport post freed after CPS mistake
An engineer who posted on social media about burning asylum hotels during the Southport riots has been freed from jail after a mistake by prosecutors. Joseph Haythorne was due to be sentenced on Tuesday for his comment calling for hotels to burn 'with those scruffy b------- in it'. He made the post just as violence erupted outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham. On Monday, Sheffield Crown Court heard that the offence Mr Haythorne was charged with – publishing material intended to stir up racial hatred – requires permission from the Attorney General before charges can be brought, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had not received permission in his case because of an 'oversight'. The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson, said any court proceedings up to now were 'a nullity' and quashed Mr Haythorne's conviction. The 26-year-old, who had been remanded in custody on Friday ahead of his sentencing, was released from prison and told to appear at Sheffield magistrates' court on Wednesday for 'the whole process to start again'. Judge Richardson told him: 'I am sorry about this. I am not best pleased; you have been detained, worse still, you were expecting to be sentenced tomorrow and I can't sentence you tomorrow. If on Wednesday consent has been obtained, the proceedings will be starting all over again.' Specialist division A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: 'Charging decisions on offences relating to stirring up racial hatred should be referred to a specialist division which would then be responsible for applying to the Attorney General for consent if deemed appropriate. 'This should have been done in this case and we have apologised to the court ahead of inviting them to adjourn the case to allow for the issue to be resolved.' On Friday, the court heard Mr Haythorne posted the comment on X, formerly Twitter, at lunchtime on Aug 4, 2024, just as an anti-immigration demonstration outside the Holiday Inn Express, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, began to descend into rioting. More than 60 police officers were injured in the violence that afternoon as hundreds of people bombarded police and the hotel with missiles. At one point, rioters set fire to a bin against a fire door of the hotel, which had 240 asylum seekers inside as well as more than 20 staff, and some broke into the building. Laura Marshall, prosecuting, told Sheffield Crown Court on Friday that Mr Haythorne's post from an anonymised account, which was viewed by 1,100 people before he deleted it, included a link to a now-deleted post by the 'perhaps divisive figure' activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson. 'Lapse of judgment' She said the defendant's full post read: 'Go on Rotherham. Burn any hotels with them scruffy b------- in it.' Ms Marshall said the case had some similarities with the case of Lucy Connolly, who was jailed last year for 31 months after she posted on X: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f------ hotels full of the b------- for all I care ... if that makes me racist so be it.' Bianca Brasoveanu, defending, said Mr Haythorne posted the comment in a 'momentary lapse of judgment which he regrets every day'.
BBC News
10 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Man who made 'burn hotels' comment in Rotherham has case quashed
A man who was due to be sentenced over a social media post saying "burn any hotels" used by asylum seekers has been released from prison after a mistake by Haythorne, 26, pleaded guilty to publishing material intended to stir up racial hatred after writing on X just as violence erupted outside the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, Rotherham on 4 Sheffield Crown Court heard the Crown Prosecution Service had not sought the necessary permission from the Attorney General to bring the charge due to an "oversight".After his original conviction was quashed by Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, Mr Haythorne was told he must appear at Sheffield Magistrates' Court on Wednesday for "the whole process to start again". Mr Haythorne, from Ashford, in Surrey, had spent the weekend in custody having admitted the offence at a hearing on earlier, Judge Richardson told the hearing any court proceedings up to now were "a nullity"."I am sorry about this," he said. "I am not best pleased, you have been detained, worse still, you were expecting to be sentenced tomorrow and I can't sentence you tomorrow."If on Wednesday consent has been obtained, the proceedings will be starting all over again." Prosecutor Laura Marshall told the court on Friday Mr Haythorne's post was sent from an anonymised account and viewed by 1,100 people before he deleted also included a link to a post, which has now been deleted, by the "perhaps divisive figure" activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy said the defendant's full post read: "Go on Rotherham. Burn any hotels [with asylum seekers]."Ms Marshall said his case had some similarities with the case of Lucy Connolly, who was jailed last year for 31 months after she posted on X: "Mass deportation now, set fire to all the … hotels full of the ... for all I care ... if that makes me racist so be it."Bianca Brasoveanu, who was defending Mr Haythorne, said he posted the comment in a "momentary lapse of judgment which he regrets every day".During the anti-immigration demonstrations outside the hotel last August, more than 60 officers were injured after hundreds of people went after police and the hotel with missiles.A bin against a fire door of the hotel was also set on fire and people then broke into the hotel, which had 240 asylum seekers inside, as well as more than 20 staff. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Man faces prison for encouraging asylum hotel violence
A man who called for hotels housing asylum seekers to be burned down amid unrest at an anti-immigration demonstration is likely to face imprisonment, a judge has said. Joseph Haythorne, 26, posted on X on 4 August just as a protest outside the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, Rotherham, began to descend into Crown Court heard on Friday that Haythorne's post, from an anonymised account, was viewed by 1,100 people before he deleted an engineer from Ashford, Surrey, admitted publishing material intended to stir up racial hatred at a previous hearing and will be sentenced on Tuesday. Laura Marshall, prosecuting, said the post had included a link to a now-deleted post by the "perhaps divisive figure" Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy said the defendant's full post read: "Go on Rotherham. Burn any hotels [with asylum seekers]." 'Momentary lapse' Ms Marshall said the case had some similarities with the case of Lucy Connolly, who was jailed last year for calling for "mass deportation now", adding "set fire to all the... hotels [housing asylum seekers]... for all I care".The barrister also referenced the cases of Jordan Parlour and Tyler Kay, who both encouraged people on social media to attack Brasoveanu, defending Haythorne, said he posted the comment in a "momentary lapse of judgement which he regrets every day".She said there was no evidence he had deeply rooted views about immigration issues and was "more interested in football than politics".The barrister said a medical report concluded that his struggle with depression could have exacerbated his reaction to social media content about the murder of three girls in Southport and posts by the controversial influencer Andrew Tate. However, the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told the court: "Somebody who is looking at Andrew Tate's social media posts, and then taking these actions, is not suffering from a momentary lapse of judgement."He called Haythorne's post "vile" and "dreadful racist nonsense", saying it "inflamed the situation - almost literally" at the hotel."He's tweeted this racist rubbish, 1,100 people see it in 17 minutes before he realised it was dreadful and then he takes it down."And, unfortunately, the damage is done."Judge Richardson told Haythorne: "I am reasonably confident that you will be going to prison."It is, however, very important that I calibrate this sentence with great care."Additional reporting by PA Media. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
