Ricky Jones Cleared

So you think she deserves the jail time.

Do you think it's legal for someone to tell a crowd 'We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.' whilst making a throat slitting motion about a group of people they don’t like?

Which do you think is worse: someone saying they don't care if people set fire to the building housing a group they don't like, or someone telling a group to cut the throats of the group they don't like? If you ignore who the disliked group is, for a minute.

She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred and encouraging activity that threatened life. She hasn't been in jail for 3 years and her sentence was 31 months of which she had to serve 40%.

How do you feel about Lucy Connolly being in jail for 3 years for tweeting something stupid and horrible, including not caring if other people are violent?

And how do you feel about her request for an appeal being rejected?

You may not agree with the law but the law does have specific limits on what people are permitted to say, where it would violate other people's rights. Being offensive is legal. But inciting violence is not. It's surely pretty obvious why.

He said to a group of people 'We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.' whilst making a throat slitting motion about a different group of people he didn’t like.

I’m delighted he was cleared. Nobody should be jailed for saying stupid horrible things in the heat of the moment.

That part where you say there’s obvious difference between the two actions, it’s not known if a jury would think that.

Not sure how that's relevant to the points I made but yes, of course, I agree.

Although no one knows how a jury would have decided on Lucy Connolly’s case, had it gone to trial. It could have had the same outcome as Ricky Jones.

I'm not furious, in fact I'm quite pleased. The fact that the jury were able to stick with what they thought was the correct verdict, and not be swayed into the easy verdict demanded by the mob, encourages me to think that justice is alive and well.

Especially since the mob (i.e. most posters on here and on social media) appear spectacularly badly informed:

Don't understand the difference between pleading guilty and pleading not guilty

Think calling for the burning alive of a specific group of innocent people is the same as saying that violent criminals should be killed. (Presumably they think that saying "peadophiles should hang" should be illegal too?)

Have no clue how jury trials work.

Don't know the first thing about how the justice system in general works (and appear to think "Labour" or the PM himself are in charge of decisions to prosecute, the judiciary, the advice given by solicitors to their clients, bail decisions, and are even directing events in the jury room!)

Unfortunately I think the real societal divide (and the reason for the risk of serious unrest) is between those few sensible people who live in the real world and have a proper understanding of how things work, and those many badly-informed, gullible people who are vulnerable to online conspiracies and see what they want to see.

Yes of course it is a crime! Don't tweet it fools...you need to stand in the street in front of a baying mob, booming loudly we need to be rid of them, complete with throat slitting action - that is not a crime. When will people learn.

Sea Lioning is starting early today

Why furious?

It would appear not to be going by today's verdict!

I can't understand how anyone cannot be furious at this verdict. Britain used to have a reputation for fairness. It's double standards to my mind. I care.not what the jury may or may not have seen. I know what I saw and heard. He's guilty as hell. I'm not surprised people are angry at the outcome.

I have no idea what other evidence was presented. He was charged with encouraging violence but the crowd weren't exactly aggressive, perhaps he didn't mean for what he said to be taken seriously. He obviously shouldn't have said it but no one actually acted on it.

I’ve no idea why Connelly was remanded straight to jail though even after her guilty plea.. was Jones realised after two days or something?

Yes but what Jones said was there for all to see . What other evidence can there be ? He said it on camera.
He obviously had a sympathetic jury

I assume juries are privy to information the general public aren't, therefore they make decisions based on that.

Why? Were they blind and deaf?

I think tbh the Shadow Home Secretary has come out of this looking like a complete and utter idiot with his ridiculous tweet.

I'm not sure. Encouraging GBH or something similar? I wouldn't have lost any sleep if he'd been found guilty of something along those lines. I also hope he gets kicked out of the Labour party. I suspect he'll challenge it if they do.

And now we have idiots on X inciting people to slit throats as they believe it is not a crime.

Oh yes I agree. The CPS authorised 1 charge against him. I'm not a lawyer but was this the only/best option?

Not just the ones on the left, most men get away with all manner of heinous shit😡

Two people. Two completely different pleas. Two completely different legal processes. Two completely different outcomes.

If LC had taken her chances with a jury, she might have had a not guilty verdict too, like the other chap mentioned (I think on another thread).