Man sent race hate posts during summer riots

Ehsan Hussain will be sentenced at a later date

A man has admitted posting social media messages designed to stir up racial hared as riots hit the UK.

Ehsan Hussain, from Birmingham, has been warned to expect a substantial custodial sentence.

The 25-year-old pleaded guilty at the city's magistrates' court on Wednesday to distributing threatening, abusive or insulting material between 3 and 6 August.

Hussain was remanded in custody for sentencing at crown court on Friday.

The defendant, of Coventry Road, spoke only to confirm his plea and personal details.

His solicitor Aftab Zahoor said the offending was "commissioned initially out of curiosity" and he wrote messages "to take a poke" at others.

"He is apologetic and remorseful for his actions," Mr Zahoor said.

Telegram messages

West Midlands Police said Hussain used a fake name to post "vile" messages on Telegram.

The force said screenshots of his posts showed they called for disorder in the Alum Rock and Bordesley Green areas of Birmingham.

"We would like to thank members of the public for alerting us to these posts which was crucial at a time when we were seeing lots of rumour, speculation and misinformation online," said Ch Supt Richard North.

"We do not tolerate violence in our towns and cities, or tolerate those who use social media to encourage such violence."

The force added it had been made aware that a member of the public unrelated to Hussain was wrongly identified on social media as being the source of the messages.

It said the man is being supported.