Nadine Osman
A Welsh electrician who shared social media photographs of himself wielding a gun alongside anti-Muslim messages has been jailed for four years on September 23.
Jay Davison, 38, from Cardiff, posted the “extremely offensive” messages in August 2018, Cardiff Crown Court heard. He urged people to “stand up” against Muslims in the posts on Instagram and WhatsApp.
Davison was convicted of publishing material with intent to stir up religious and racial hatred last month, and cleared of two further counts of stirring up religious hatred. The court heard he shared a second photo with the fake weapon in August last year and wrote a series of racist comments.
“Ever seen a white man cut a head off? No, because they’re f***ing scum. Heil, heil, heil, heil, f*** Allah c***,” one read.“When has an Aryan cut another man’s head off?” said another comment.
Jennifer Josephs, prosecuting, said: “These posts were extremely offensive. The images showed him bare-chested holding a shotgun. He then left comments below those images.
He was using language that you normally associate with white supremacists.”
During his trial, Davison denied the charges and said the photos were taken at a friend’s house after an evening of drinking, that he had no racist views and did not intend to incite racial hatred.
“It was a terrible judgment on my behalf, and I should not have posted it,” he said. “It was a drunken stupidity. When I am sober, I am a completely different person.”
Hashim Salman, defending, said: “Although not immediately removed, the time it took for Davison himself to reach for the sense and for those senses to prevail and remove the material was short. Though not the strongest mitigation, his account was locked and private. He is disgusted and embarrassed with himself.”
Judge Tracey-Lloyd Clarke said: “The manner and way you behaved reveal something of your inner thoughts and for you then to take a photo of yourself holding a firearm makes this a matter so serious only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate.”
Jenny Hopkins added: “This is a warning to people that posting material online can have damaging consequences for them offline.”
