U.K. Facebook users not jailed for posts criticising tax spend on 'immigrants'

Context

Social media users recently shared an image claiming it shows three men who were jailed for making Facebook posts saying they did not want their tax money "spent on immigrants."

The caption accompanying the image reads, "Witch Hunt in UK: 20 months in prison for a Facebook post that says 'I don't want my tax money going to immigrants.'" Archived examples of such posts can be found here, here, and here).

Below the caption, the post identified the three men as Jordan Parlour, Tyler Kay, and Dimitrie Stoica, who were all jailed in connection to their conduct during riots sweeping across the U.K. in July and August. 

However, Logically Facts found that none of the three men were jailed for Facebook posts expressing disapproval that their tax money was being allocated to "immigrants."

In fact

During the U.K. riots, the escalation of the disorder was partly amplified by the spread of anti-immigrant messaging and misinformation online, according to local media and NGO reports." Both Parlour and Kay encouraged attacks of violence against asylum seekers and refugees. Stoica falsely claimed he was chased by rioters amid fears of disorder during the riots.

Jordan Parlour was jailed for 20 months for online posts intended to stir racial hatred

Jordan Parlour was sentenced to 20 months in jail after pleading guilty to publishing written material that "is threatening, abusive or insulting, intending to stir up racial hatred," according to the sentencing remarks. 

On Facebook, Parlour was urging people to violence and encouraged people to continue attacks against the hotel accommodating asylum seekers and refugees during the riots in Leeds, according to local media coverage. The hotel was attacked by people throwing missiles and damaging windows, forcing it to be locked down. Parlour said his online behavior was motivated by anger and frustration with immigration policies in the U.K., including the allocation of tax money.

Tyler Kay was jailed for 38 months for online posts intended to stir racial hatred

Similar to Parlour, Tyler Kay was sentenced to 38 months in jail after admitting to publishing written material to stir up racial hatred. Kay's anti-immigration social media posts were calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire, and he reposted an online post inciting action against named immigration solicitors in Northampton, according to local reports. 

The sentencing remarks stated that the tone of Kay's X posts revealed a "fundamentally racist mindset" and "the timing and nature of the postings you clearly intended to incite serious violence." Kay will serve up to half of the sentence in prison before being released on license.

Dimitrie Stoica was jailed for three months for sending a false communication

On August 9, the Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court jailed Dimitrie Stoica for three months after admitting to "sending a false communication with intent to cause harm." According to the Derbyshire Constabulary, Stoica falsely claimed on a live-streamed TikTok video of being chased and "running for his life" from rioters amid fears of disorder in Derby. 

However, there was no disorder during the livestream, and Stoica admitted his comments were a "joke."

Logically Facts has previously covered and refuted multiple misleading and false claims about court sentences following the U.K. riots. 

The verdict

Neither Parlour, Kay, nor Stoica was jailed for merely stating, "I don't want my tax money going to immigrants" online. Parlour and Kay were sentenced for publishing written material to stir up racial hatred by, among other online posts, encouraging violence against asylum seekers and refugees. Stoica was jailed for falsely claiming to be in danger during the U.K. riots. Therefore, we marked the claim as false.