By, Jonathan Kalmus
1 min read
ByJonathan Kalmus, Jonathan Kalmus
Jewish MP Luciana Berger has welcomed the jail sentence given to the man who sent her antisemitic tweets.
Ms Berger said the four-week prison term handed to Garron Helm sent "a clear message that hate crime is not tolerated in our country".
She hoped it would encourage others to report such crimes.
Twenty-one-year-old Helm, of Litherland, Merseyside, pleaded guilty to sending the "obscene" tweet at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Monday.
As well as the jail sentence, he was ordered to pay an £80 victim surcharge to the MP after the judge upgraded the offence to one considered racially motivated.
The tweet showed a photograph of Ms Berger with a Holocaust yellow star superimposed on her forehead and the wording: "You can always count on a Jew to show their true colours eventually".
It also contained the hashtag "Hitler was right".
When police raided Helm's home, they found SS insignia and a flag of the extremist right-wing group National Action.
Defending Helm, Mark Ellis said he had found an "online family" with the extremist group after his father died and his mother suffered a mental breakdown, and was simply looking for guidance in life.
But judge Andrew Shaw said the items found in Helm's home suggested his "true motivation" for sending an antisemitic message.
In a statement read in court, Ms Berger said she was "deeply shocked by the entire incident and by the link to National Action".
Reacting to the sentence, John Mann MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, said: "This is an important and welcome decision. It should serve as a warning that either online or offline, antisemitic and racist hatred is simply unacceptable and will be tackled head on".
Communities Minister Stephen Williams also welcomed the verdict.
