A judge in Leeds has sentenced a man to months in jail after the defendant admitted to publishing Facebook posts that “intended to stir racial hatred” during the riots  that have gripped the United Kingdom over the past week.

In a case believed to be the first addressing social media posts linked to the unrest across England, Jordan Parlour, 28, was sentenced on Friday for writing posts encouraging people to attack a hotel housing asylum seekers and refugees

According to UK broadcaster Sky News, in a Facebook post in early August, Parlour wrote: “Every man and his dog should smash [the] f**k out of Britannia hotel” in Leeds.

On Saturday, Britannia’s hotel manager was forced to put the building into lockdown due to the disorder in the city, and at least one window was broken after stones were thrown at it.

Over the past week, far-right activists in the UK have also attacked  other hotels housing asylum seekers across the country, after false rumours accusing a Muslim immigrant of the Southport stabbings that killed three children triggered violent far-right protests across the country.

According to British news outlets, Judge Guy Kearl KC from the Leeds) Crown Court, told Parlour on Friday, “You took to social media in order to encourage others towards participation in the attacks upon the hotel.”

Parlour was convicted earlier this week.

(Aljazeera)