A man from Kenfig Hill in Bridgend County has been given a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to sending an antisemitic message to a family member that referred to people being burned in the Holocaust.
Jack Sweetland, 31, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court and was sentenced on 13 May.
His original six-week prison sentence was uplifted to 10 weeks, suspended for 12 months, after the court found the evidence demonstrated the offence was motivated by hostility around antisemitism and disability.
In addition to the suspended sentence, Sweetland was made the subject of a two-year restraining order. He was ordered to pay £85 in costs, a £154 victim surcharge and £500 in compensation.
The offence took place on 23 December last year.
A two-protected-characteristic uplift
The case is unusual in that the sentence uplift reflected hostility on two grounds rather than one. The Crown Prosecution Service said the evidence demonstrated the offence was motivated by hostility on both an antisemitic and a disability basis.
Under hate crime sentencing rules in England and Wales, when any criminal offence is proved to have involved hostility towards a protected characteristic, the court must treat it as more serious. The underlying offence itself remains the same, but judges are required to increase the sentence to reflect the additional harm caused.
The CPS has not disclosed details of the family relationship or the identity of the victim.
CPS statement
Ryan Colamazza, Senior Crown Prosecutor and Hate Crime Coordinator at CPS Cymru-Wales, said hate crime had a devastating impact not only on individual victims but also on the wider communities it targets.
“Antisemitism and all other forms of hatred have no place in our society, and the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute these offences whenever the legal test is met,” he said.
“We work closely with the police and our criminal justice partners to ensure that offenders are brought to justice and that the courts are made aware of any hostility shown as part of an offence.”
Reporting hate crime
Hate crime is a criminal offence committed against a person or property which is motivated by hostility based on a protected characteristic. The five recognised strands are race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity.
Members of the public who wish to report a hate crime can contact South Wales Police on 101 in non-emergencies, or 999 in an emergency. Reports can also be made online via True Vision at report-it.org.uk, including anonymously.
Support for victims of hate crime in Wales is available through Victim Support Cymru on 0300 303 0161.
