Sean Dowd, of Edgar Street, Ramsbottom, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court yesterday (Thursday 25 July 2024) to 27 months in prison.

He previously pleaded guilty to:

• Ten counts of publishing / distributing written material, which was threatening, abusive or insulting, intending thereby to stir up racial hatred contrary to Section 19(1) of the Public Order Act 1986.
• Three counts of publishing / distributing written material which was threatening, intending to stir up religious hatred contrary to Section 29(C) of the Public Order Act 1986.

Dowd was arrested by CTPNW officers in March 2023 after he was identified as the man behind a social media account which had shared scores of antisemitic, racist, and xenophobic posts. A number of these posts encouraged violence against various communities and praised those who had previously carried out terrorist attacks.

Sean Dowd

At the time of his arrest, Dowd’s account had 200 followers and the bio on his profile stated: “smiling and sharpening my knife”.

Speaking after the sentencing, Head of CTPNW Investigations, Detective Superintendent Andy Meeks said:

“Over several months, Sean Dowd repeatedly shared offensive posts online which encouraged violence and anger towards minority communities.

“Unfortunately, we know all too well just how serious an impact the online activity of hateful individuals can have so I welcome the custodial sentence imposed by the judge today.

“This is another case which highlights the potential dangers of negative online activity so I would like to take this opportunity to continue to urge anybody who comes across hateful, violent, or extremist content to please report it to the police urgently so that action can be taken.”