A 53-year-old woman who lived a “quiet, sheltered” life has been jailed for 15 months for posting a comment on Facebook which said: “Blow the mosque up with the adults in it.”

Julie Sweeney, of Church Lawton, Cheshire, was the primary carer for her husband and led a “kind and compassionate lifestyle” (well, aside from the aforementioned Facebook post).

Julie was part of a Facebook group which had 5,100 members. In response to a photo which showed a number of white and Asian people involved in the clean-up after the Southport riots, she posted:

“It’s absolutely ridiculous. Don’t protect the mosques. Blow the mosque up with the adults in it.”

Sentencing, Judge Steven Everett, the honorary recorder of Chester, said in circumstances such as these “even people like you need to go to prison”. He jailed Julie for 15 months, telling her:

“You should have been looking at the news and media with horror like every right-minded person. Instead, you chose to take part in stirring up hatred.

“You had a big audience. You threatened a mosque … It truly was a terrible threat.”

The judge said “so-called keyboard warriors” like Sweeney “have to learn to take responsibility for their language – particularly in the context of the disorder that was going on around the country”.

Despite Julie’s ailing husband writing the judge a “heart-rending” letter, and the positive character references from her community, the judge decided that Julie should be locked up for 15 months over her Facebook post (which she deleted shortly after posting).

John Keane, defending, said Julie Sweeney accepted she had been stupid:

“This was a single comment on a single day,” he said. “She lives a quiet, sheltered life in Cheshire and has not troubled the courts in her long life. Her character references show she lives a kind and compassionate lifestyle.”

As Julie was convicted, she replied “Thank you, your honour”, which actually makes the whole thing even sadder. Don’t get me wrong – there absolutely should be consequences for posting that sort of thing on Facebook (like maybe having your account banned forever), but 15 months in jail? For a quiet, sheltered 53-year-old woman caring for her husband in the middle of bumf*** nowhere, Cheshire?

I actually feel sorry for the woman. She’s probably a low IQ person who has gone through her life not necessarily having any sophisticated thoughts or understanding complex ideas. It seems unfair to expect someone like her to understand the seriousness of what she did, when to her, Facebook is probably like two housewives exchanging gossip over the fence. As the world changes and becomes more complicated, more and more simpletons like Julie are unable to understand the rules, through lack of education, or low IQ, or whatever.

Just doesn’t really seem like jail is the best place for this woman, especially compared to some of the actual violent thugs who physically participated in the riots in Southport and elsewhere. This was her first offence ffs! At most, the judge should have given her community service. Oh well, too late now.

For the woman who is accused of first sharing the fake Southport stabbing suspect rumour that sparked the riots, click HERE.