Man sentenced for posting series of offensive tweets

A 25-year-old man from Newcastle-upon-Tyne has been sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, after posting a series of offensive tweets.

Nathan Thompson of Whickham View, Newcastle, pleaded guilty at Newcastle Magistrates Court in March 2024 to the following offences.

He is being charged for six offences of Inciting Racial Hatred, contrary to Section 19(1) of the Public Order Act 1986 – published or distributed written material on a Twitter account which was threatening, abusive or insulting, intending thereby to stir up racial hatred or, having regard to all the circumstances, it being likely that racial hatred would be stirred up thereby.

As well as this, he was found guilty of three offences of Inciting Racial Hatred, contrary to Section 21 of the Public Order Act 1986 – distributed a recording on a Twitter account which was threatening, abusive or insulting, intending thereby to stir up racial hatred or, having regard to all the circumstances, it being likely that racial hatred would be stirred up thereby.

Thompson was also was found guilty of two offences of Malicious Communications, contrary to Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 – send by means of a public electronic communications network, namely Twitter, a message or other matter that was grossly offensive.

A specialist unit within Counter Terrorism Policing identified two X accounts sharing extreme right wing, racist, anti-Semitic, and transphobic content. The accounts were visible to the public and shared offensive material along with clear support for those who have previously committed terror attacks.

Enquiries traced the accounts back to Thompson, which resulted in Counter Terrorism Policing North East arresting him in July 2023.  In interview he accepted responsibility for both offending Twitter accounts.

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “The Counter Terrorism Policing network works around the clock to identify harmful content online and bring to justice anyone promoting such material on social media."