Mohammed couldn’t find his safe space.
A UK man from Manchester has been sentenced to 180 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month community order after posting comments that were said to be “grossly offensive” towards Muslims.
Stephen Bennett, 39, is alleged to have made “inflammatory” remarks on Greater Manchester Police’s Facebook page, in response to an appeal for information in a sex case with an Asian suspect.
He reportedly took to the Greater Manchester Police’s Facebook page to post comments “concerning an Asian woman” as well as another which was “likely to be offensive to Muslims.”
The details have been kept confidential but he had also written, “Don’t come over to this country and treat it like your own. Britain first,” according to the Manchester Evening News.
Mr. Bennett’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law are Muslim and it’s doubtful he’s a bigot.
He was arrested under the Malicious Communications Act and reportedly said to the police: “Is this about that Muslim thing on Facebook? I’m getting locked up for sticking up for my own country.”
In the UK, you can’t “send by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character” or “cause any such message or matter to be so sent…A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.”
People were concerned that the law was too loosely worded but they let it become law anyway.
A Muslim witness told the Manchester court that Mr. Bennett’s comments were “irresponsible,” incited hatred, and could be a “potential tool for radicalisation.”
The judge said his comments ran “the risk of stirring up racial hatred in the present climate” and sentenced him to a 12-month community order with 180 hours unpaid work. The judge added: “Your remarks damaged the community in which you live, and it’s the community that you must repay.”