Simon Sheppard (51) and Stephen Whittle (42) have become the first people in the UK to be convicted of inciting racial hatred online. Sheppard and Whittle ran websites featuring pictures of murdered jews alongside cartoons and articles deriding ethnic groups. They were tried at Leeds Crown Court last year but before the Jury could return a verdict the two men fled to the USA attempting to claim political asylum. Whittle, who wrote the offensive articles, was condemned to two years and four months, Sheppard, who published it online, to four years and ten months.

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