A man who posed with his parents’ Samurai Sword in a picture posted on Snapchat with the caption: ‘Where’s Tommy Robinson‘ has been jailed.
The image shared by Mohammed Akhtar, 24, was seen by a handful on people on the social media platform before it was deleted in August of this year.
Akhtar had also sent messages to various WhatsApp groups where he threatened to ‘smash up this white lot’ and said he was ‘going to sharpen that samurai’ to ‘take with me later’.
He also wrote to ‘shout me if it kicks off lol I’m just down the road’.
The post came the day after an anti-far right gathering in Bordesley Green which resulted in disorder and arrests amid civil unrest sparked by false claims that the suspect in a triple child murder case was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.
Three girls – Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven – were fatally stabbed at a Southport Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in July.
Akhtar, who was described as ‘intelligent’ and well-educated told Birmingham Crown Court he had been ‘showing off’ with the sword, which was a blunt ornament given to his parents as a wedding gift 20 years earlier.
He said it was a ‘silly mistake’ and denied that he condoned violence, but admitted sending a communication threatening death of serious harm.
Mohammed Akhtar, 24, shared the image online, which was seen by a handful of people
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was in Cyprus when the image was posted
Akhtar was sentenced to 15 months behind bars at Birmingham Crown Court (pictured)
Jonathan Baker, defending, told the court there was ‘no prospect of harm’ to Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, as he was in Cyprus at the time of the Snapchat post.
‘There are many references that attest to the defendant’s positive good character’, he said. ‘He is a young man, educated, he is from a good family who has a lot going for him and good prospects.
‘This was behaviour that was out of character and no doubt in part due to his lack of maturity and lack of consequential thinking.’
Prosecutor Claire Harris said: ‘Police received information that this defendant has posted on social media a photograph of himself holding a samurai sword with the caption ‘where’s Tommy Robinson?’. The defendant was identified through further enquiries.
‘The defendant’s home address was searched on August 11. His parents invited the police to his bedroom and that’s where the samurai sword was recovered.’
Akhtar, of Washwood Heath Road, Ward End, was sentenced to 15 months behind bars.
Judge Paul Farrer KC said: ‘The seriousness of the offence and the obvious need for deterrence is such that punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.’
Referencing the disorder and rioting across the country in the summer he added: ‘In truth this disorder was nothing to do with exercising the right to lawful protest.
‘Instead, it was motivated by intolerance and ignorance. For others it was an excuse to commit acts of violence, intimidation and criminal damage.’
