A man who was jailed for four years for using Facebook to incite disorder will appeal against his sentence.
Jordan Blackshaw, 20, was jailed alongside Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, on Tuesday at Chester Crown Court.
The court heard that Cheshire Police discovered a Facebook event, entitled ‘Smash Down Northwich Town’, created by Blackshaw, of Vale Road, Marston, Northwich, Cheshire.
Today, Chris Johnson of mosshaselhurst solicitors, who is representing Blackshaw, said: ‘The family are shocked and upset at the sentence and Jordan has instructed us to appeal against the sentence.
‘Jordan's mother is too upset to speak to the press and has asked me to speak for her. Jordan originally set up the Facebook site for a joke, which he accepts was in bad taste and inappropriate, and he is remorseful.’
Mr Johnson added: ‘We are not aware of any persons actually attending the proposed event.
‘The police did attend, but do not appear to have encountered anyone behind McDonalds who was there for that purpose.
‘We believe that Northwich remained peaceful that day.’
Blackshaw and Sutcliffe-Keenan, of Richmond Avenue, Warrington, were both sentenced to four years behind bars.
The pair were arrested last week following incidents of violent disorder in London and other English cities.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Blackshaw's Facebook page clearly stated that it was he who created it.
It went on to specify a time and date of Tuesday August 9 between 1pm and 4pm ‘behind maccies’ - thought to be the McDonald's restaurant in Northwich town centre.
The page said it was intended for the receipt of the ‘Mob Hill Massive Northwich Lootin’.
Blackshaw then added the first comment on the page, saying: ‘We'll need to get this kickin off all over.’
Sutcliffe-Keenan also set up a Facebook page, encouraging disorder in his suburb of Warrington called ‘Let's Have a Riot in Latchford’.
Police were alerted to the page when members of the public raised concerns last Tuesday.
The page invited people to ‘riot’ on the evening of Wednesday August 10 between 7pm and 10pm.
There was also a photograph of civilians clashing with police officers.
Following the calls to the police, one witness said she recognised ‘Pezz Keenan’ as Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan from a photograph which was also posted on the site and that he had been the person who had originally created the site.
Both men pleaded guilty to intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence under sections 44 and 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, the CPS said.
The CPS confirmed the sentences handed down to Blackshaw and Sutcliffe-Keenan were the lengthiest so far given to those involved in the rioting that swept through the country last week.
During the sentencing the Recorder of Chester, Judge Elgin Edwards QC, praised the swift actions of Cheshire Police and said he hoped the sentences would act as a deterrent to others.
Today, Prime Minister David Cameron backed the sentences.
He said: ‘They decided in that court to send a tough sentence, send a tough message and I think it's very good that courts are able to do that.’
Civil Rights and penal reform groups said some of the jail terms imposed on those who took part in last week's riots in England are disproportionate.
Mr Cameron said: ‘What happened on our streets was absolutely appalling behaviour and to send a very clear message that it's wrong and won't be tolerated is what the criminal justice system should be doing.
‘They decided in that court to send a tough sentence, send a tough message and I think it's very good that courts are able to do that.’
But leading criminal barrister John Cooper QC warned that some sentences were being handed down as a ‘knee-jerk reaction’, ‘responding to the public's anger and the politicians' rhetoric’.
‘It's the duty, in my view, of all those who direct sentencing to be independent and not to be influenced by angry Britain,’ he said.
‘There's no doubt that some individuals will need to be sentenced very firmly, but my concern is that the sentences given in the last week have been disproportionate and somewhat hysterical.’
Two in three people charged in connection with the riots and looting have been remanded in custody, compared with a remand rate of just one in 10 for serious offences in 2010, British Ministry of Justice figures showed.
Guidelines
Criminal defence barrister Paul Mendelle said some people must be imprisoned over the riots, but there were clear guidelines which must be followed.
'It appears the courts are being urged to ignore those guidelines and somehow to throw the rule book out of the window, and ramp up sentences. I find that unsettling and potentially unjust,' he told BBC radio.
'It's often said that justice delayed is justice denied, but justice rushed can be justice denied as well.'
A spokeswoman for the Judicial Office said however that there was 'no truth' in media reports that judges had been issued a directive to increase sentences.
Local government minister Eric Pickles defended the decision to jail the two men over the Facebook riots.
'We cannot have people being frightened in their beds, frightened in their own homes, for their public safety', he said.
'That's why these kind of exemplary sentences are necessary and I think the public would be rightly alarmed if incitement to riot got off with just a slap on the wrist.'
