A 48-year-old man from Gateshead has been sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred through reckless online activity, according to a police statement.
Lee Cole, of East Hill Road, Gateshead, admitted to six offences under Section 19 and Section 21 of the Public Order Act 1986 at Newcastle Crown Court in January.
Cole was arrested in July 2024 after Counter Terrorism Policing internet specialists identified that he had shared racist, homophobic, transphobic, and antisemitic content across multiple social media platforms.
Investigators also found that he had shared a video produced by National Action, a far-right group that has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
During sentencing on March 10, 2025, Judge Sloan KC considered mitigating factors, leading to the decision to impose a suspended sentence rather than immediate custody.
In addition to the suspended prison term, Cole was ordered to:
- Complete 50 days of a Rehabilitation Activity Order.
- Undergo 90 days of an Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Order.
- Forfeit two electronic devices, which were ordered to be destroyed.
Authorities continue to encourage the public to report any terrorist or extremist content encountered online.
If you dont agree with the invasión you are the devil but if you,re a muslim and hate the Christians you,re Good people.
The only racism here is against White people of Europe .
The endophibic E.U. promote the islamization of tbe continent, of course Mohamed Starmer too.
Bwahaaahaa Aww poor illiterate snowflake, are your little feelings upset? 🤣
You lot will be extinct within a few generations and what’s more: There’s absolutely nothing you can do about it 👌🏾
Must admit, it’s very amusing to watch the last death throes of the “master race” as it clutches at any straw to stave off its impending obsolescence 👋🏾
You won’t be missed… 😄
Two tier…
Just a question please. Are you a black Racist, a Muslim or just the type of white left winger he is talking about?
We won’t be missed until stuff stops working altogether. Good luck honey. You will need it.
Oooh, a hateful comment on social media.
The police are on their way …….
you’re a racist Muslim go back to your jungle.
What a nasty racist shit you are.
I’d go as far as say Evil.
Been a target for his filth several times.
I ignore.
He gets banned then comes back.
Yawn, what a nasty comment: ….hackneyed ‘master race’ argument. Race does not equal faith. There are 3x as many Catholics in India as there are in the UK, and 4x as many in Nigeria. There are 85million Catholics in the Philippines. In case you hadn’t noticed their nurses are propping up the NHS. And if you know where to look you will find in the Quran the verses which record that Jesus was a virgin birth and that he rose from the dead after the crucifixion.
“This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,
Fear’d by their breed and famous by their birth,
Renowned for their deeds as far from home,
For Christian service and true chivalry”
Richard II, this England….
English must be hard when your first language is Urdu.
So why is sharing hatred okay? Look what happened last summer, people got hurt and worse because of online incitement. It’s bad for public order, community cohesion and frankly could get people killed in a modern version of a pogrom? Are you going to defend an Islamist extremist if they incited hatred and violence against the west?
It’s not racist to promote equality…quite frankly I don’t care what religion people follow, I only care how they act.
It’s funny watching foreigners with such poor command of English try to stir up racial hatred over ‘invasions’…
This article is nothing about UK defence, why was this even written?
You are 100% correct: this “defence” site appears to be increasingly concerned with politics. And politics which attracts all the usual suspects.
Clausewitz, man, Clausewitz!
Spot on. And many of the “usual suspects” have zero to say on defence matters, maybe because they lack any real knowledge of the subject to make informed comment.
But anything politics related, and they have plenty to say.
Sick of it.
Funny how an MP can punch and kick the proverbial out of a constituent, while lying defenceless and incapacitated on the ground, and had to be refrained by members of the public from killing him, walks scot free.
Alternatively, we see people spouting ‘hurty words’ on the Internet, no matter how obnoxious, banged up for several years.
The justice system is truly phucked-up.
(a) he’s not been “banged up for several years”, he got a 2 year suspended sentence
(b) what part of “incitement “ do you not comprehend?
If you want to be a racist I’d suggest you go to the Russian embassy and claim political asylum. It’s one of the few countries where such views are promoted.
Oh wow. look at Spock the hero outing ‘racists’ everywhere.
Slow crime day ? No burglaries, muggings going on ?
Poliicing the social media for nasty comments ?
Thats like trying to boil the ocean with a kettle.
Not a good use of police time.
It will go nicely with their plan to de-anonymise the internet.
Anyone who does not see the mass infringement on civil liberties coming needs a good hard shake.
The plan is to have a “digital ID” to access social media online.
Ostensibly to “protect the children” but in reality to police words and thoughts, once implemented, expect to see prosecutions rocket.
So why is sharing hatred okay? Look what happened last summer, people got hurt and worse because of online incitement. It’s bad for public order, community cohesion and frankly could get people killed in a modern version of a pogrom? Are you going to defend an Islamist extremist if they incited hatred and violence against the west?
“No charges for East London Imam’s ‘destroy Jewish homes’ sermon”
Two tier Britain.
“So why is sharing hatred okay?”
Nobody said it was, re-read my post and try to stay on topic, don’t make assumptions about things that have not been discussed.
No, a member of the public will have reported it to the police. Given how social media is used to organise criminal actions, such as those seen last-summer, it’s right the police act against incitement.
Or are you upset you might get similar for going online and calling for a race war?
I am talking about making good use of police time.
“Or are you upset you might get similar for going online and calling for a race war?”
You are making false inferences / bad assumptions and that is your problem not mine.
It contradicts the fact you are complaining about online incitement, yet you attempt to goad others in flame wars with your comments, which have a vengeful/angry tone to them.