An alleged “keyboard warrior” accused of inciting others to burn down a hotel housing migrants is to be released from custody, a High Court judge has ruled.
Corey McNabb (28) was granted bail on charges of posting inflammatory social media comments about the accommodation in Bangor, Co Down.
From Balmoral Avenue in the town, he allegedly sent a message calling for the Marine Court Hotel to be targeted during racially-motivated disorder across parts of Northern Ireland.
The court heard police monitoring online material discovered a Facebook message on August 3 which stated it was “time for all the keyboard warriors to take a stand”.
McNabb allegedly replied: “Should just burn the Marine Court instead of standing out front of it every week” and accompanied his posting with a laughing emoji.
Detectives believe this was a reference to the hotel in Bangor targeted by protestors for providing accommodation to a number of migrants.
During interviews McNabb told police he had attended a previous rally at the Marine Court with his two-year-old daughter and left it feeling angry.
He insisted he never intended to incite anyone to burn the hotel down and claimed it was a throwaway comment.
Denying that he was a racist or directing any anger at migrants, McNabb instead suggested UK citizens were being let down by the government.
He also allegedly stated that he would be happy for a brief period if someone had burned the hotel down, but added that reality would then set in.
McNabb faces charges of sending menacing messages and encouraging others to commit arson.
Defence barrister Michael Boyd told the court his client, a self-employed mechanic, was embarrassed and ashamed by the incident.
“This was a foolish comment, but the impact of being held in custody has had a seismic impact on him and his business,” Mr Boyd submitted.
Granting bail to McNabb, Madam Justice McBride noted that the spate of civil unrest appears to have eased off.
“He has a sobering lesson to learn from the time he spent in custody,” she added.
McNabb was banned from any social media activity other than for business purposes as part of the terms of his release.