Salford Man Jailed Over Facebook Riot Comments

A man who used Facebook to stir up unrest during the disorder in Greater Manchester has been jailed.

Philip Scott Burgess (born 25/09/1989) also posted numerous racist comments on his Facebook profile in the days following the widespread disorder.

Burgess, of Milnthorpe Street, Charlestown, Salford, pleaded guilty to three counts of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and encouraging or assisting the commission of a riot at an earlier hearing and on Thursday 27 October 2011, was sentenced to three years in prison at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square.

With widespread disorder occurring in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Nottingham, Burgess - under his profile name 'Philip Rio Burgess' - posted a message at 11.44am on 9 August 2011 stating: "Message to all - we need to start riot'n we need to put Manchester on the map, first lets riot king street Manchester, haha."

Later that day, the disorder in both Manchester city centre and Salford broke out, with scenes of violence, criminal damage and looting. A huge police response was launched to bring the situation under control, with police officers and vehicles attacked to shock and disbelief among members of Greater Manchester's communities.

At about 4.30pm that day, Burgess posted a defamatory message about the ethnicity of some of the looters.