The United Kingdom court has sentenced a man to 22 months’ imprisonment for sending offensive online messages last year to Britain’s new Indian origin Home Secretary Priti Patel.
The 53-year-old Gerard Traynor was arrested in January this year after posting a string of racist messages to the senior Conservative Party Members of Parliament (MPs) Facebook page between October and December 2018. He similarly trolled Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster.
During the sentencing hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Friday, the Judge said: “This was not the exercise of the democratic right to free speech or the type of critical commentary that all politicians face on a day to day basis. On the contrary, the messages are deeply offensive and threatening.”
In reference to the messages directed at Patel, he noted: “The content of your message is shocking and disgusting, and is clearly racially motivated.
“It uses debased language that has no place in our multi-cultural society and was designed to insult and to demean and incite racial hatred.”
The 47-year-old Patel, in her statement to the police which was submitted to the court, expressed her disgust and shock at the online attacks and described the effect it had on her public and personal life.
Patel’s statement read: “I converse with the public on a daily basis this can provoke debate and I am faced with criticism. This incident has taken acceptable behavior to serious criminality, the content was shocking and disgusting in its nature and the messages were racist, grossly offensive, hugely upsetting and caused me to feel intimidated.
“It had a huge impact on both my personal and professional life, I am a lot more wary of my surroundings when I am in public.”
DUP leader Foster, in her statement, said she became concerned for her loved ones after the very aggressive and threatening messages.
She said: “I expect a degree of commentary but these messages overstep the mark of free speech. I don’t know the sender, where he was or what his intentions were.
“I was concerned about my own movements, but at least I am in control of my own movements My concerns were for my family and those around me.”
Traynor had turned down to engage with support agencies in the past. He was labeled as a “lonely man”, who has 11 previous convictions for similar offenses, the prosecution told the court.
Traynor pleaded guilty to 16 counts of sending grossly or threatening offensive malicious communications before being sentenced for the crimes.
