Man found guilty of stirring up religious hatred over topless shotgun photos

A man who posted abusive anti-Muslim messages online alongside topless photos of himself holding a fake shotgun has been found guilty of stirring up religious hatred.

Jay Davison, 38, said in posts on Instagram that people should “stand up”, and used insulting phrases associated with Nazism and white supremacy.

Cardiff Crown Court was told the electrician uploaded the posts on August 6 last year and clearly intended to target Muslims.

Davison claimed he had been drunk at the time and now regrets his actions, but on Wednesday a jury found him guilty of publishing material with intent to stir up religious hatred, and two counts of publishing material with intent to stir up racial hatred.

He was found not guilty of two other counts of stirring up religious hatred.

Davison, from Cardiff, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on September 23.

Jenny Hopkins, head of special crime and the counter-terrorism division at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The material Jay Davison posted was clearly threatening, abusive and insulting. His intention can only have been to stir up religious and racial hatred.

“His defence that he regretted his actions and was drunk was rejected by the jury.

“This is a warning to people that posting material online can have damaging consequences for them offline.”