Former prison officer from Oakham tells jury he had no intention of stirring up social media hate
A former prison officer has told a jury he did not intend to stir up racial hatred on social media in the wake of the Southport attacks.
Mark Heath, who's 45-years-old, is accused of stirring up racial hatred on X by publishing allegedly threatening, abusive or insulting material to the site between 22 July and 6 August this year.
Heath, a father-of-one, of Kestrel Road in Oakham, is a former car sales manager and prison officer at HMP Peterborough.
Prosecutors allege he posted "talk of war" and images that targeted people on the grounds of their race, including a claim that Islam is a "common problem" for the world.
"I am not guilty"
Giving evidence to Leicester Crown Court, sitting at Loughborough Courthouse, Heath said he regretted part of a post in which he described Muslim men being involved in an incident at Manchester Airport as being a "Brucey bonus."
He told jurors nothing he had every posted on X - which he viewed as a 'safe space' for freedom of speech after its takeover by Elon Musk - was intended to stir up hatred.
He said: "I pleaded guilty because I am not guilty.
"I do have strong opinions and express those opinions but at no point was I trying to stir up racial hatred or did I think that it was likely to stir anything up.
"I am very much right wing. I do not hate all Muslims... but I do have major issues with radical Islam."
Commenting on an incident in which a man was kicked in the head by police at Manchester airport, Heath posted on 25 July: "You know what it doesn’t matter what religion, colour etc the people involved were, an English man would have deserved the same treatment!
"The fact it turned out to be a group of Muslim men was a Brucey bonus!”
Heath told jurors: "I do regret putting the last bit I must admit. It was a silly thing to say.
"Having said that I do perceive those Muslims to be radical because anybody that is up for attacking a group of armed police officers, in my eyes, is pretty radical."
A Reform Party logo on the front of a train was his main X account picture, Heath said, telling the court: "I agree with their policies and what they would do if they were to govern at any point."
"My issue is illegal immigration and who is arriving on the boats that are coming in.
“My perception, be it right or wrong, is that all I see coming in on the boats are fighting-age males.”
Another message, which attracted 228,000 views, posted by Heath on the day of the Southport stabbings read: “Now the truth. Name Ali Al Shakati, arrived on a dinghy last year, saying he is 17 so not to be named, multiple witnesses saying he was shouting ALLAHU AKBAR.”
In his evidence, Heath said of the post: “Ali Al Shakati is a nobody.
“Ali Al Shakati is a name that was circulated from a false news channel, which a lot of people got took in by, obviously me included.
Asked if he was trying to stir up racial hatred on that post he said: "Not at all. I was just commenting on what I heard.
"My belief and my opinion is that we live in a very dangerous country now."
A further post claiming the Southport attacker had been prevented from being returned to Rwanda was also raised during Heath's defence case.
He said: "I didn't know if that was correct information at the time, but it was all over Twitter at the time that that was correct.
"I believed it to be true."
He condemned those who rioted in the wake of the Southport attackers and called them "stupid", saying his posts had nothing to do with the riots and did not encourage or endorse a call to arms.
The trial continues.
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