Suspended prison sentence for man who sent offensive Hillsborough and anti-Semitic tweets

In April 2020, Zakir Hussain, 28, posted numerous hateful tweets on a social networking site including grossly offensive posts referring to the tragic 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Shockingly, Hussain tagged a family member of one of those victims, the sister of Andrew Mark Brookes, in these posts. He also made racist comments about the supporters of another Premier League football club.

On 24 August 2022, Hussain was arrested at his home address after failing to attend the police station. He admitted he had written the offensive comments linked to his account.

Today (19 June 2023), Hussain was sentenced at Stratford Magistrates' Court to a total of 14 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, after pleading guilty to five Communication Act offences, one of which was racially aggravated. This sentence was increased from eight weeks to 14 weeks to reflect the hate crime element of his offending. An application for a football banning order was adjourned to 11 July 2023 to be heard by the Court, and he was ordered to pay £500 compensation to the victim, Louise.

In a moving statement read out to the court, Louise described the impact that these distressing and upsetting tweets had had on her.

Kalsoom Shah, Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS London South, said: “Hussain’s tweets were not just hateful, they were deeply offensive.

“Hussain callously targeted the victim in this case who had lost her brother in the Hillsborough disaster. He posted offensive tweets about the victim’s brother, as well as an antisemitic post about Spurs fans.

“Today, he has been held accountable for his criminal actions and I would like to thank the victim for coming forward and reporting this crime. The court was able to take into account the impact that these offensive tweets had upon her, when passing sentence.”

Lionel Idan, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS London South and the national CPS lead for hate crime, said: “These tweets were extremely upsetting and deeply offensive not only to Louise, but to the memories of those who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster and to their families and friends, as well as to those within and outside the Jewish community.

“Hatred of any kind has no place in society. Wherever our legal test is met, the CPS will not hesitate to prosecute those who engage in such abhorrent and reprehensible behaviour.

“I hope this conviction and sentence, sends out a clear message that such crimes will not be tolerated. If you see or experience such unacceptable criminal behaviour, I urge you to report it to the police so that they can investigate it and help us bring the perpetrators to justice.“