Man jailed for 'burn down hotels' online post

Multiple fires were set around the hotel in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August

A man who called for hotels housing asylum seekers to be burned down during unrest at an anti-immigration demonstration has been jailed.

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Joseph Haythorne wrote on X on 4 August just as a protest outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, began to turn violent.

The post, which was viewed by 1,100 people, said: "Go on Rotherham, burn any hotels [with asylum seekers]", before it was deleted 17 minutes later.

On Wednesday, Haythorne, 26, an air conditioning engineer from Ashford, Surrey, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment after admitting publishing material intended to stir up racial hatred at a previous hearing.

This was the first case of its kind in relation to the Manvers riot brought before the courts in Sheffield.

Haythorne's post was sent from an anonymised account and included a link to a post - which was later deleted - by activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.

The court heard the defendant had read inaccurate reports on social media about the Southport murders which then inflamed him to post.

Bianca Brasoveanu, mitigating, said her client accepted he had made a "wrong connection" between the attack and "immigration in general".

"He realised within that short lapse of time how wrong, damaging and bad those words were," Ms Brasoveanu told the court.

"His regret and remorse are echoed by the fact that he's pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity."

Ms Brasoveanu said Haythorne suffered with his mental health, which had affected his reaction to posts about the Southport attacks.

'Sensitive and volatile time'

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, accepted the defendant's vulnerabilities had had an impact but told him: "You knew what you were doing and you knew it was wrong."

He said the facts of the case were so serious, only an immediate custodial sentence was justified.

"What you encouraged is exactly what happened: The hotel was the subject of a fire attack approximately an hour-and-a-half after you placed the post online," he said.

"It was a particular sensitive and volatile time and you full well knew that a hotel was the subject matter of a protest that afternoon."

Haythorne's sentencing hearing had previously been delayed due to the Crown Prosecution Service not seeking the necessary permission from the Attorney General to bring the charge.

His original conviction was quashed and the process started again with the case brought back for sentencing on Wednesday following Haythorne's renewed guilty plea.

Judge Richardson stated that due to "the conflicting issues in this case", he would explain the full reasons for the sentence during a hearing next week, but added that he did not believe it was fair to make the defendant wait any longer to learn what it would be.

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