Martin McRobb, Crown Advocate for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said:
“Jordan Blackshaw, 21 and Perry Sutcliffe, 22, independently and from the safety of their homes may have thought that it would be acceptable to set up a Facebook page to incite others to take part in disorders in Cheshire.
"They were wrong and were both sentenced today to four years’ imprisonment at Chester Crown Court, after pleading guilty to intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence under sections 44 and 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007.
“They both used Facebook to organise and orchestrate serious disorder at a time when such incidents were taking place in other parts of the country. Both defendants, in Northwich and Warrington respectively, sought to gain widespread support in order to replicate similar criminality.
In investigating these cases, the Cheshire Constabulary acted very swiftly and effectively to close down these websites and to ensure that there was no actual participation in the planned events. Nevertheless, these posts caused significant panic and revulsion in local communities as rumours of anticipated violence spread.
“The Crown Prosecution Service worked very closely with the police and Cheshire Crown Court to bring forward preliminary hearing dates that had initially been listed on 19th September. We were able to serve upon the defence in both cases sufficient case material that led to early guilty pleas and we were able to present the facts in both cases in a fair but robust manner.
“While the judge heard the two defendants were previously of good character, they admitted committing very serious offences that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years. The consequence of their actions could have led to more disorder and this was taken into account.”
Additional information
Jordan Blackshaw born 22/08/1990 - On Tuesday 9 August created an event on Facebook called ‘SMASH DWN IN NORTHWICH TOWN.’ The event invitation clearly stated that it was created by Jordan BLACKSHAW and specified a time and date of Tuesday 9th August 1:00pm-4:00pm and gives the location for the event as ‘behind maccies’ (believed to be McDonald's food outlet in Northwich). The invitation also mentioned that it was intended for the receipt of the ‘MOB HILL MASSIVE NORTHWICH LOOTIN.’ Blackshaw then added the first comment ‘WE’LL NEED TO GET ON THIS KICKIN OFF ALL OVER.’
Perry Sutcliffe- Keenan born 23/04/1989 - On Tuesday 9 August 2011, a number of telephone calls were received by police from members of the public who stated that a site had been set up on the social networking site Face Book. The site had been named “WARRINGTON RIOTS”. The members of the public who had called the police were concerned in relation to this site as there had been a number of serious cases of public disorder in London and other cities in the UK. The site invited anyone who wished to be involved in a “riot” on the evening of Wednesday 10th August 2011 between 7pm and 10pm. There was also a photograph of civilians clashing with police officers.
Following these calls to the police, one witness stated that she recognised “Pezz KEENAN” as Perry Keenan Sutcliffe from a photograph which was also posted on the site and that Keenan had been the person who had originally created the site.
