Lancashire army veteran jailed for glorifying Jo Cox killer

A 37-year-old man has been sentenced for making statements celebrating Jo Cox's murderer

An Army veteran who encouraged terrorism by glorifying the murderer of MP Jo Cox has been jailed for two years and eight months.

Kieran Turner, of Earby in Lancashire, published statements in 2019 calling for "650 Thomas Mairs" and hailing the killer as a "hero".

Batley and Spen MP Ms Cox was killed by far-right terrorist Mair in June 2016.

Turner, aged 37, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court, after pleading guilty to 10 offences.

They included one count of encouraging terrorism, two counts of disseminating terrorist publications and seven counts of stirring up racial hatred between January 2019 and September 2020.

The court heard how Turner used the Gab online platform, where he described himself as a "British Army veteran English Nationalist", to publish the statements.

'Dangerous'

Officers discovered his crimes after finding a Samsung tablet under the bed at his home on Earlesdown Avenue in November 2021

Prosecutor Joe Allman said Turner shared and re-shared material which expressed "virulent" misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic views, as well as displaying extreme racism, Islamophobia and "deep hostility" towards Jewish people.

Turner had also reposted a link to Christchurch mass murderer Brenton Tarrant's "manifesto".

The court heard that prosecutors did not accept Turner's explanation that his posts were intended to be humorous.

On Thursday, the 37-year-old received an extended sentence and was told to serve two years and eight months in custody, followed by a period of 12 months on extended licence.

Judge Alan Conrad KC said Turner was "at least reckless as to whether other people would act on your opinions".

"The danger in these cases is that there is a risk that one person could act on these posts with terrible consequences," he added.

The judge noted that Turner, who had no previous convictions, was more prone to radicalisation because of his diagnosed autism spectrum disorder.

Sarah Day, defending, said Turner had features of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following his time in the armed forces and had also suffered from depression.