Police chief reacts to jailing of former Sunday league manager over racist video about Home Secretary Priti Patel

A police chief and the Crown Prosecution Service have reacted to the jailing of a Bassetlaw man who shared a racist video about Home Secretary Priti Patel.
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Former Sunday league manager Jake Henderson posted the 50-second tirade on Snapchat after watching a Covid-19 briefing led by the Home Secretary, on January 21.

He made a number of unpublishable racial insults and added: “As a white man I won’t be listening to people of colour because they’re no good in positions of power.”

Henderson shared the video with friends on a private Snapchat group. Cumming, who replied to the video with four laughing emojis, then shared the video to another private group.

Jake Henderson, of Retford, has been jailed.Jake Henderson, of Retford, has been jailed.
Jake Henderson, of Retford, has been jailed.

From there it was shared on an open-source platform and subsequently viewed millions of times all over the world.

The pair were interviewed shortly afterwards by police.

Henderson was later linked to a raft of other racist social media posts. An English Defence League-branded sweatshirt was also found at his home address.

He admitted to making the video but claimed he had meant it as a joke. Cumming also admitted sharing the video – but only in private.

Both men later pleaded guilty to a charge of sending a grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing message or matter via a public communication network.

Henderson also pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing class B drugs after a quantity of cannabis was found during a police search.

Appearing at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court today Henderson, aged 30, of Retford, was sentenced to ten weeks in jail. No further penalty was added for the drugs charge.

Cumming, aged 26, of Edlington, Doncaster was jailed for six weeks. They must both pay a £128 surcharge on their release.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “The recording and subsequent sharing of this video exposed both these men as vile racists. Their disgraceful acts have caused considerable distress to many people and have rightly led to criminal convictions.

“As soon as this video was brought to our attention, we immediately launched an investigation and were very quickly able to identify its origin.

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“The message from Nottinghamshire Police really could not be clearer: racism has no place in our society. We will not tolerate it and we will take quick and robust action against anyone who creates or shares this kind of material.

“Regardless of who the abuse is targeted at or towards, we will investigate, we will take action and we will instigate criminal proceedings wherever we can.”

CPS Chief Crown Prosecutor, Janine Smith, said: “This video and the vile sentiments expressed targeted individuals and communities and caused widespread distress and concern. The CPS has treated the case as a hate crime from the outset.

"We presented comprehensive evidence about Henderson’s background, including previous offences, demonstration of expressing views of extreme prejudice and association with a far-right group to demonstrate that this is not an isolated incident, but part of a concerning pattern of behaviour, fuelled by extreme views.

"And we have been clear to the court that in reposting the video, Cumming was endorsing Henderson’s hate for these people and communities.

“Hate crimes and online abuse are heinous crimes, which can have a significant impact on the people targeted and our wider communities.

"In the days after the video went viral, the CPS and other agencies were contacted by numerous people expressing concern that individuals held these views and had aired these so publicly.

"We take this sort of offending extremely seriously and by prosecuting this case as a hate crime, we stand by the diverse communities we serve and ensured these individuals faced the consequences of their actions.

“Henderson has admitted to the court that he acted out of hostility to people from different ethnic backgrounds and Cumming admitted that his actions demonstrated hostility. As this is a hate crime, we applied to the court to uplift the sentence and the court has taken this on board.”