Leeds man jailed for Facebook posts encouraging violence at hotel

A man has been jailed for 20 months for encouraging people on social media to attack a Leeds hotel housing more than 200 migrants.

Jordan Parlor made the Facebook posts on August 4 with the intention of inflaming tensions as anti-immigration demonstrations were taking place across the country, Leeds Crown Court heard on Friday.

Parlor had pleaded guilty at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to using threatening, abusive or insulting words in the posts.

The 28-year-old, from Seacroft, is the first person to face prosecution for posting alleged criminal messages linked to violence.

Leeds Crown Court heard how Parlor wrote a Facebook status on Sunday morning which suggested “every man and his dog” should aim for the Britannia Hotel in Seacroft.

He also claimed in a Facebook comment that migrants were given “Riley’s life from taxes that we hard workers earn when it could be put to better use”.

At the time of Parlour’s posts, the Britannia Hotel was housing 210 migrants, prosecutor Matthew Donkin said.

Over the weekend, staff there reported damage to the windows of a bedroom where some guests had been staying.

The hotel was closed on Saturday night to protect those living there, Mr Donkin told the court.

Due to the damage and the Parlor post, which came to the attention of staff on Sunday evening after a hotel in Rotherham was attacked, West Yorkshire Police deployed five units to the premises, Leeds Crown Court heard.

A total of 18 officers and an inspector attended the scene and security patrols were carried out throughout the night and into the following day.

The court was told that Parlor was arrested in the early hours of Monday and he admitted the offense during an interview with police.

Donkin said the defendant “realized how stupid his comments were and said he could understand that he could have incited further violence” during an interview with officers.

The status was sent to 1,500 of his Facebook friends and could have been shared more widely because of its limited privacy settings, the court heard.

In a victim impact statement, the head of the Britannia Hotel said security measures had been increased since last weekend.

Staff were “very anxious, stressed and worried about what will happen when they come on duty,” the manager’s statement added.

Mitigating, Nicholas Hammond said his client had no intention of taking part in violence as he had a broken leg and was not connected to any political group.

“Those were his stupid and irresponsible posts,” he said.

A character reference written by Parlor’s mother in defense of her son said: “We can only speculate that he has been caught up and swept up in the emotions that are running around the country.”

Sentencing Parlour, the Recorder of Leeds, His Honor Guy Kearl, told him: “Your intention was to incite violence.

“You were encouraging others to attack a hotel that you knew was occupied by refugees and asylum seekers.”

Judge Kearl said the offense was aggravated by “the timing of your posts, at a time of social unrest and particular sensitivity across the country”.

A prison sentence was therefore “inevitable”, he added.

Salon was told he must serve half of his sentence in custody.

Dressed in a gray jumpsuit, he let out an exasperated sigh as he was led to his cell.

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