Asian man used fake name on Telegram to stir up racial hatred during riots
An Asian man used the fake name Chris Nolan on social media to stir up racial hatred in Birmingham during the summer riots, saying: “We need to take back what’s ours.”
Ehsan Hussain, 25, used the name to post messages calling for disorder during disorder that spread across Britain.
The messages appeared on a Telegram chat group called “Southport Wake Up”, which had more than 12,000 members.
Screenshots of the messages, obtained by police, show Hussain urging people to “conquer Alum Rock”, a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood, saying: “Sick of these smelly scumbags”.
Other racist messages, Hussain’s contribution to a conversation he had with two other users, included: “We’ve got a Blues match on Saturday; we can do a part 2 on Saturday get these p--- scums out.”
He also wrote: “Birmingham first! We need to take back whats ours” and “we doing p--- bashing”.
Hussain, from Yardley, pleaded guilty at Birmingham magistrates’ court to distributing “threatening, abusive or insulting” written material intending to stir up racial hatred between Aug 3 and 6.
He was warned to expect a substantial custodial sentence and was remanded into custody for sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday.
No details of the material written by Hussain were given to the court, although his solicitor said the offending was “commissioned initially out of curiosity” after he was shocked at some posts and then wrote messages “to take a poke” at others.
Aftab Zahoor, defending, said Hussain had written messages after being “appalled” by other posts on a social media platform, which was not named in court, and had now “had time to reflect on matters”.
Mr Zahoor said: “He is apologetic and remorseful for his actions.”
‘We do not tolerate violence’
Committing the case for sentencing at the crown court, District Judge Murray told Hussain: “This is part of the overall disorder, which caused real problems throughout the country.
“I will decline jurisdiction in relation to these matters. My powers of sentencing [a six-month maximum sentence] are clearly and substantially exceeded. You have pleaded guilty, and you will get credit for your guilty plea in due course.”
Commenting on the case, Chief Superintendent Richard North, of West Midlands Police, said: “This has been an excellent but complex investigation.
“We would like to thank members of the public for alerting us to these posts, which was crucial at a time when we were seeing lots of rumour, speculation and misinformation online. We know this can be extremely harmful to all of our communities.
“We do not tolerate violence in our towns and cities, or tolerate those who use social media to encourage such violence.”
A man was assaulted and damage caused to a pub in the Yardley area, and a car was attacked elsewhere in east Birmingham, during disorder on the evening of Aug 5 after false rumours of a far-Right march spread online.