A DEESIDE man has been jailed for stirring up racial hatred in his local area, at a time of 'national disorder'.

Daniel Kingsley, of Plough Lane in Shotton, appeared before Mold Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday, August 15.

The 33-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of publishing online material to stir up racial hatred at Llandudno Magistrates Court on Wednesday (August 14).

David Mainstone, prosecuting, told the court that the two posts in question were made via Kingsley's Facebook page between August 7 and August 11, which North Wales Police became aware of.

In the first post made on August 8, Kinglsey - who works as a plasterer - said: "If you believe these riots ain't right, then you shouldn't be allowed to be a citizen of the UK."

He added then added further abusive language.

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In another post made on August 10, he said: "If you're going to riot today, at least do it properly."

Kingsley then 'encouraged' people to protest in the local areas of Connah's Quay, Garden City and Queensferry, where he believed immigrants were working.

Screenshots of the posts were made and reported and North Wales Police had to increase patrols in the area as a result of the posts.

Mr Mainstone said that the offences 'must be viewed in the wider context of violence and disorder throughout the country'.

He added that the defendant must 'clearly have been aware of what was taking place around the country'.

Kingsley was arrested on August 10.

He claimed he had 'copied and pasted' the post and that the words were not his own.

He added that he had deleted the posts after his father and wife had seen them.

At interview, he apologised and added that he now thought the posts were 'disgusting' and 'could see why they might be racist'.

He also denied that he was a racist.

(Image: NQ) PIC: Kingsley was sentenced at Mold Crown Court.

Mr Mainstone argued that the offences were aggravated by the fact that they were 'committed during a time of disorder on a national scale'.

Alexandra Carrier, defending, said that Kingsley had never 'engaged' in any racially-motivated offending before.

She added that the post wasn't public, that only his friends could see it and that only two people interacted with it.

Ms Carrier said that Kingsley was 'remorseful' for what he had done and took the posts down himself.

She said: "He is sorry and has realised that this was a stupid thing for him to do."

Sentencing Kingsley, Judge Rhys Rowlands said:  "Your intention plainly was to incite, to encourage serious violence. This in the locality of where you live in Deeside.

"The nature of the second post identified victims in the locality where you believed immigrants to be working.

The judge added: "You are a man who is prepared to threaten and intimidate others. Your case will hopefully serve as a warning to other like-minded individuals."

Kingsley was jailed for a period of 21 months.

Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman KPM said: “North Wales Police takes any allegation of criminality, whether committed online or in person, extremely seriously.

"This type of offending causes fear within communities and as this case demonstrates, those who engage in online offending in such a way will be identified and placed before the court.”