Lincoln’s “keyboard warrior” imprisoned for involvement in riots in Britain

A man who posted material on social media aimed at stirring up racial hatred during recent unrest across the UK has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Wayne O’Rourke, who had over 90,000 followers on his X account, posted false information about the murder of three young girls in Southport on July 29 and praised the burning of a car in Sunderland.

The 35-year-old, from Salix Approach, Lincoln, admitted publishing written material online between July 28 and August 8 with the aim of stirring up racial hatred.

Sentencing him at Lincoln Crown Court, Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told him: “You were not involved in the actions of others, you instigated them.”

She added: “The fire is fueled by keyboard warriors like you.”

On 29 July, the court heard, among other things, a reference to the deaths of the three children in Southport, which he allegedly caused in a terrorist attack by a Muslim.

Another post called on the “people of Southport” to “take to the streets” and was viewed 1.7 million times, the court was told.

Other posts showed a picture of the County Road mosque in Liverpool and a picture of a burning car in Sunderland, accompanied by a post that read: “Sunderland, keep it up lads.”

In another post, he wrote: “Starmer has basically said: us against them. Stay on the line.”

Other posts read “numbers matter” and “give them hell, boys,” the court heard.

O’Rourke’s X-profile was accompanied by a picture of a bulldog in a Union Jack jacket.

The court was told that he admitted receiving payments of around £1,400 into his account every month.

His defence lawyer Lucia Harrington said the defendant did not set up his account with the intention of promoting such material and was “swept away by the media frenzy”.

According to Ms Harrington, O’Rourke had previously worked as a parcel sorter but gave up that job to care for his partner.

She added that O’Rourke now wants to clarify things he had misunderstood.

Judge Knight said she did not accept O’Rourke’s claim in the interview that the humour was black and asked him: “Where is the humour, I ask you, Mr O’Rourke?”

The court heard he had no previous convictions but was cautioned for fraud in 2018.

Following the verdict, Chief Superintendent Kate Anderson of Lincolnshire Police said the force would “take swift and decisive action against anyone suspected of sharing harmful content online”.

“This action shows that everyone is responsible for their actions – whether in public or online,” she added.