Man jailed over threats to burn down every mosque in Newcastle says ‘no-one can say anything these days’

A man jailed for threatening to burn down every mosque in Newcastle pleaded that “no-one can say anything these days” after he was arrested.

Father-of-four James Apsin, 34, took to social media to share a video shortly after the killing of three girls in Southport in August.

He admitted to distributing a recording intended to stir up racial hatred at Newcastle Crown Court, with the judge describing the wording used in the TikTok upload as “offensive and dangerous”.

“You referenced people who practise Islam as being largely responsible for awful crimes committed in this country”, Judge Carolyn Scott added.

After he was arrested, Aspin told police: “No-one can say anything these days.”

In determining his sentence, she took into account Aspin’s guilty plea and his ADHD diagnosis.

However, she said he had to be jailed: “The words used by you on your TikTok post are not and should not be tolerated,” said the judge.

“Such words could and do, on some occasions, result in action being taken by others which have a serious impact on the lives of other people.”

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.