Woman 'who first shared lies that sparked UK riots' arrested

MicroWave@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 746 points – Woman 'who first shared lies that sparked UK riots' arrested
metro.co.uk

The woman accused of being first to spread the fake rumours about the Southport killer which sparked nationwide riots has been arrested.

Racist riots spread across the country after misinformation spread on social media claiming the fatal stabbing was carried out by Ali Al-Shakati, believed to be a fictitious name, a Muslim aslyum seeker who was on an MI6 watchlist.

A 55-year-old woman from Chester has now been arrested on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred, and false communication. She remains in police custody.

While she has not been named in the police statement about the arrest, it is believed to be Bonnie Spofforth, a mother-of-three and the managing director of a clothing company.

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You know what I don’t give a flying fuck about? Her being a mother of three. Why is this sympathy baiting bullshit in an article about a woman who helped incite violent racist riots all over the country?

Maybe she should have thought about her kids before being a conservative.

Being a mother of three plays against her in my mind.

She didn't do this for her children but her own selfish reasons. Her children will suffer from her actions and therefore she is an irresponsible parent that does not consider the well being of her children.

She’s trying to ensure that her kids grow up in a more hateful and racist country, this is the legacy she’s trying to leave her children.

For me, the being a mother of three and that being mentioned just has descriptive value. It doesn't affect my judgement of her. It just helps me place who did this in the context of society and this anecdote, for whatever that matters - haters/bigots come in all shapes and sizes of course

It's also just commonly done in UK newspapers. Age and familial status is always given. Terry Pratchett made a joke about it in one of his books, though I can't remember the quote.

Edit: found one (not exactly the gag I wanted but CBA to look further)

'Exc--' he began. But the citizen's eyes had already detected the notebook. 'I saw it all,' he said. 'Did you?' 'It was a ter-ri-ble scene,' said the man, at dictation speed. 'But the watch-man made a deathdefying plunge to res-cue the old lady and he de-serves a med-al.' 'Really?' said William, scribbling fast. 'And you are--' 'Sa-muel Arblaster (43), stonemason, of The Scours,' said the man. 'I saw it too,' said a woman next to him, urgently. 'Mrs Florrie Perry, blonde mother of three, from Dolly Sisters. It was a scene of car-nage.'

They never use that argument for men.

"He's a father of 3"

They're always coming up with an excuse.

If her kids are young, a prison sentence of the mother would be pretty heavy on them. But the judge can take that into account if they want to.

But I guess this was just added to add more context about who the person is. More personal stories are more interesting to read.