A Lancashire man who posted offensive comments on Facebook about missing five-year-old April Jones has been jailed for 12 weeks.

Matthew Woods, 20, made a number of derogatory posts about April and missing Madeline McCann.

He appeared at Chorley Magistrates' Court where he admitted sending a grossly offensive public electronic communication.

Woods, of Eaves Lane, Chorley, was handed the maximum sentence.

Chairman of the bench, magistrate Bill Hudson, said his comments were so serious and "abhorrent" that he deserved the longest sentence they could pass, less a third to give credit for his early guilty plea.

Woods, who is unemployed, was arrested for his own safety on Saturday night and remanded in custody ahead of his appearance in court.

Chorley magistrates heard members of the public were so upset about his posts they reported them to the police.

So people should face zero repercussions for being insensitive fuckwits?

Guevarista wrote: Absolutely no criminal repercussions. They should be told that they're insensitive fuckwits. Facebook, as a commercial site, has every right to delete his post. But no-one should ever face criminal charges for saying stuff that people find distasteful, let alone be sent to prison.

If it was honestly just people taking offense, even if the comments were cruel and unneeded, I'd have to say tough shit grow a thicker skin. People say stuff to offend other people on a daily basis, its not jail worthy. And while I am saddened that two little girls are missing, and there is no reason for people to make comments about that in a disrespectful way, people are just too damn sensitive.

Obviously he shouldn't be locked up but he posted something to get a reaction...he got a reaction!

A man who posted an offensive Facebook message following the deaths of six British soldiers has been given a community order.

Azhar Ahmed, 20, of Fir Avenue, Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire, was found guilty in September of sending a grossly offensive communication.

He said he did not think the message, which said "all soldiers should die and go to hell", was offensive.

Ahmed was also fined £300 at Huddersfield Magistrates' Court.

Barry Thew jailed for T-shirt mocking PCs deaths

Thew in the offensive T-shirt Thew was arrested wearing the T-shirt hours after the PCs were killed


A man from Greater Manchester who wore a T-shirt daubed with offensive comments about the killing of two police officers has been jailed.

Barry Thew wore the top in Radcliffe town centre hours after the deaths of PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes.

Thew, 39, had admitted a public order offence and was jailed for four months.

Speaking after the hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, Insp Bryn Williams said Thew's actions had been "morally reprehensible".

A police spokesman said Thew, of Worsley Street, Radcliffe, had been arrested after being seen wearing the T-shirt "just hours" after the constables died in a gun and grenade attack in Mottram on 18 September.

He said the messages on the white T-shirt had been handwritten.
'Darkest hour'

Mr Williams said: "While officers on the ground were just learning of and trying to come to terms with the devastating news that two colleagues had been killed, Thew thought nothing of going out in public with a shirt daubed with appalling handwritten comments on."

Thew was also sentenced to a further four months for breaching the conditions of an earlier 12-month suspended sentence for the possession of cannabis.
PC Fiona Bone and PC Nicola Hughes The funerals for the PCs saw saw members of the public join police officers to pay tribute to them

The two PCs were killed after being called to a house in Mottram, Tameside, on 18 September.

Their funerals took place in Manchester on 3 and 4 October and saw members of the public join police officers on the city's streets to pay tribute to them.

Mr Williams said that "the overwhelming response from the public, who have inundated us with messages of support and condolence, proves that Thew is the exception and not the rule and our communities were right behind us at our darkest hour".

Dale Cregan, 29, has been charged with the officers' murders.