An X user who was jailed for anti-immigration posts viewed only 33 times was reported to the police by his own brother-in-law. 

Luke Yarwood was handed an 18-month prison sentence for stirring racial hatred with tweets following the Magdeburg Christmas Market attack in December 2024. 

In one post, he called people to go to the hotels housing migrants ‘and burn them to the ground’ in response to tweets about the car attack, where six were killed. 

The 36-year-old’s posts had been reported to his local force by his own brother-in-law, Kevin O’Callaghan, with whom he did not get along. 

His ‘extremely unpleasant posts’ had the potential to spark disorder at one of the three high-profile migrant hotels, local to him in Bournemouth, the court heard. 

His defence counsel argued his posts ‘were the ‘impotent rantings of a socially isolated man’ and had ‘no real world’ consequences with both combined having been viewed just 33 times. 

But Judge Jonathan Fuller said Yarwood’s ‘odious’ tweets were designed to stir up racial hatred and incite violence, sentencing him to a year and a half behind bars. 

The case has been compared Lucy Connolly’s – a Tory councillor wife who was jailed  for calling people to ‘set fire’ to asylum hotels after the Southport attack in July 2024.

Loner Luke Yarwood, 33, from Dorset, has been jailed after posting two ‘odious’ anti-immigration tweets that were viewed just 33 times

The 36-year-old’s posts had been reported to his local force by his own brother-in-law, Kevin O’Callaghan (pictured), with whom he did not get along

Bournemouth Crown Court heard Yarwood from Burton, Dorset, made a series of anti-Muslim and anti-immigration posts between December 21, 2024 to January 29, 2025.

His post started the day after the Christmas market attack in Germany, when online misinformation suggested the person responsible was an Islamic extremist. 

Yarwood responded to a post that stated thousands of Germans were taking to the streets and they wanted their country back.

‘Head for the hotels housing them and burn them to the ground,’ he wrote, the court was told.

Meanwhile, further posts by him displayed a ‘rabid dislike’ for foreigners, particularly Islam, these did not stir up racial hatred or incite violence.

The 36-year-old wrote about the number of foreign people in Bournemouth, stating: ‘Walking for ages and not hearing a word of English.’

He also expressed his disgust at seeing ‘asylum seekers outside the hotel staring at young college girls’.

The second illegal tweet was made in response to a post by GB News.

Judge Jonathan Fuller said Yarwood’s ‘odious’ tweets were designed to stir up racial hatred and incite violence, and jailed him  (Pictured: Yarwood leaving Poole Magistrates’ Court at an earlier hearing)

Nick Tucker, defending, said Yarwood was feuding with his sister and brother-in-law (pictured), who reported his posts to police

‘I think it’s time for the British to gang together, hit the streets and start the slaughter,’ he wrote.

‘Violence and murder is the only way now. Start off burning every migrant hotel then head off to MPs’ houses and Parliament, we need to take over by FORCE.’

Ms Linsley said that while the two posts in question had minimal views, other posts Yarwood made in the same period had been viewed over 800 times.

‘So there would have been some awareness that he was not merely shouting into the void,’ she said.

‘He was also replying to bigger accounts that have more followers, such as GB News.’

One of GB News’s posts that he replied to had one million views, Ms Linsey told the court.

‘In posts over this one-month period the defendant plainly demonstrates a rabid dislike of those he regards as ‘non-British’ – immigrants, Muslims, as well as other minority groups within society.

‘The two specific posts were aimed at immigrants or asylum seekers, housed in government hotels.

‘This wasn’t reckless behaviour, this was a pattern that happened over a month. It was rooted in his belief. He was angry about the presence of Muslims and foreigners in Britain.

‘These two posts bookended a series of extremely unpleasant posts between December and January.’

Ms Linsley drew comparisons with the Lucy Connolly case, saying that although the high risk of disorder was not the same, the atmosphere ‘around these hotels and asylum seekers remains an extremely contentious one’.

‘There are ongoing protests daily around asylum hotels up and down the country that are having to be policed,’ she said.

‘We are not in immediate risk of widespread disorder, but the atmosphere is not one of calm in this country around this issue.

‘The whole country is aware of the disorder that took place after the Southport killings, including an arson attack on a hotel and he was encouraging others to overthrow Parliament by force and head to MPs homes.’

Nick Tucker, defending, said: ‘The current climate is such that this sort of activity has the potential to fuel serious disturbances. Thankfully this was viewed by an extremely limited audience.

‘There is no evidence that it had any real world consequences. They are the impotent rantings of a socially isolated man with fragile mental health.’

Yarwood was in a feud with his sister and brother-in-law, who reported his racist posts to police, he said. 

At the time, the 36-year-old was stressed, at a low point and no longer held his ‘extremist views’, his defence said.

He also said Yarwood’s ill health would make custody very difficult for him and prevent him seeing his son and sought to persuade the judge to suspend the jail term.

‘He acknowledges the views he expressed were uneducated, ignorant and odious,’ he added.

Yarwood had a ‘preoccupation with immigrants and particular obsession with Islam and some extreme Right-wing views’, Bournemouth Crown Court heard

‘The defendant is not at heart a racist, he simply found this to be a convenient channel for his discontent.

‘That’s not an excuse but to draw a distinction between a dyed in the wool idealogue that thinks those of other races are inferior and not welcome in this country and someone disaffected, ill-educated and misinformed who reaches for the most convenient subject for his rather inarticulate rantings.’

Judge Fuller said the matter was so serious only immediate custody was appropriate.

He said Yarwood had a ‘preoccupation with immigrants and particular obsession with Islam and some extreme Right-wing views’.

‘This is not a court of politics but law. You are entitled to express your views, but freedom of speech is not an absolute right, it’s a qualified one,’ the judge said.

‘What the law prohibits is the stirring up of racial hatred.

‘The continuing safety and stability of our communities are undermined by actions such as yours.

‘The tweets speak for themselves, they are odious in the extreme. There could be few clearer examples of words specifically designed to stir up racial hatred and incite violence.

‘They are serious offences that could have had serious consequences and can only be marked by a sentence of immediate imprisonment.’

Mr O’Callaghan declined to comment.