A “right-wing” former prison officer has been found not guilty of stirring up racial hatred in a series of social media posts shared before and after the Southport attacks.
Mark Heath denied publishing “threatening, abusive or insulting” posts on X, formerly Twitter, between July 22 and August 6 this year.
He told the court they were his “strong opinions” and “did not encourage violence”.
Jurors at Loughborough Courthouse, acting as Leicester Crown Court, acquitted him after they were shown screenshots of his posts throughout the week-long trial, including a claim that the Southport attacker, who stabbed three children to death in Merseyside on July 29, was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK on a dinghy.
Jurors were told that Mr Heath, 45, a father of one, posted a message on the day of the Southport stabbings, which gained 228,000 views, reading: “Now the truth. Name Ali Al Shakati, arrived on a dinghy last year, saying he is 17 so not to be named, multiple witnesses saying he was shouting ALLAHU AKBAR.”
The court was shown another post made on July 29 that read: “Just think how many ALI AL SHAKATIs are arriving and already here, ready to butcher our kids!!”
Mr Heath, whose X profile had more than 6,000 followers, told the court he is “right wing” but does not consider himself “far-right”.
Images attached to one of the tweets included slogans reading “it is time we the people took our country back” and “I will not submit to Islam in my own country”.
Another post was captioned “IT’S COMING” with the hashtag “civilwar”.
The court heard that Mr Heath, who had been employed at HMP Peterborough over a period of five years, had reposted rally dates originally published by political activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Heath, of Kestrel Road, Oakham, Rutland, previously told jurors he believed that people who rioted after the Southport attacks are “stupid” and he “condemns them 100%”.
He added: “At no point of any of my posts that had anything to do with riots do I encourage or endorse a call to arms. That is not who I am.
“I do have strong opinions and express those opinions but at no point was I trying to stir up racial hatred or did I think that it was likely to stir anything up.”
Prosecution barrister Lyndon Harris summarised the Crown’s case on Thursday, telling the jury: “(Mr Heath) intended others to share his views – to share the hate he described for Muslims, immigrants and non-British people.
“The intention, we say, was perfectly clear to stir up racial hatred in the context of the riots and disorder this summer.”
Mr Heath’s defence barrister, Christopher Surtees-Jones, told the jury that “the views expressed by Mr Heath are also expressed in the public domain by politicians and others on a regular basis”.
He said that the defendant had the “strong belief” that X was a “safe place for freedom of speech” and he makes clear his posts are his opinion.
Mr Surtees-Jones added: “Strong views are lawfully held views whether you agree with them or not.”
On hearing the verdict, Mr Heath, who sat in a wheelchair in the dock wearing a red T-shirt, punched the air with two fists.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC thanked the jury for its service and discharged the defendant.
