Man sentenced for encouraging violence against minority groups

A man from Bury has been sentenced after previously pleading guilty to ten counts of publishing/distributing written material, which was threatening, abusive or insulting, intending thereby to stir up racial hatred contrary to Section 19(1) of the Public Order Act 1986 and three counts of publishing / distributing written material which was threatening, intending to stir up religious hatred contrary to Section 29(C) of the Public Order Act 1986.

Sean Dowd was sentenced to 27 months in prison at Manchester Crown Court.

He was arrested by officers from Counter Terror Policing North West (CTPNW) in March 2023 after being identified as the author of a social media account which had shared antisemitic, racist, and xenophobic posts. Some of the posts had encouraged violence against various communities and praised those who had previously carried out terrorist attacks.

The profile's bio said: “smiling and sharpening my knife”.

Head of CTPNW Investigations, Detective Superintendent Andy Meeks said: “Over several months, Sean Dowd repeatedly shared offensive posts online which encouraged violence and anger towards minority communities.

“Unfortunately, we know all too well just how serious an impact the online activity of hateful individuals can have so I welcome the custodial sentence imposed by the judge today.

“This is another case which highlights the potential dangers of negative online activity so I would like to take this opportunity to continue to urge anybody who comes across hateful, violent, or extremist content to please report it to the police urgently so that action can be taken.”