Man arrested in Pakistan for ‘spreading UK riot misinformation’

Pakistani authorities have arrested a man and charged him with cyber terrorism for his alleged role in spreading misinformation that led to rioting in the UK earlier this month, a senior police investigator said Wednesday.

The suspect was identified as Farhan Asif, 32, a freelance web developer, said Imran Kishwar, deputy inspector general of investigations in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province.

The man is accused of spreading misinformation from YouTube and Facebook about the British teenage suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three girls and injured 10 other people July 29 at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport.

The misleading information spread quickly online in the UK, with riots breaking out in various locations, including major cities such as Liverpool. Dozens of police officers were injured and more than a thousand people were arrested.

There were also anti-racist counter-demonstrations attended by thousands of people.

One of the platforms’ editors-in-chief posted an apology on July 31 for “the misleading information published in a recent article on our website, Channel3 Now. We deeply regret any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused”.

At a news conference in the eastern city of Lahore, police said Asif was arrested at his house in the city for questioning.

They said Asif has claimed that he was not the source of the misinformation but that he reposted it from social media.

Police have handed over the case to the Federal Investigation Agency, which handles cases relating to cyber terrorism. It was unclear if Britain had requested his extradition.

According to the latest Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) figures, 494 people have been charged in relation to the recent rioting. More than 150 people have already been sentenced, with the vast majority facing jail sentences.

On Wednesday, the latest batch of defendants to appear in court included men accused or convicted of unrest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

The unrest outside the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, on August 4 left 58 police officers, three police horses and a police dog injured, and saw attempts to storm the building and set it on fire.

Railway engineer Morgan Hardy, 29, of Melton High Street, Rotherham, is accused of throwing chairs, fencing and a fire extinguisher at police guarding the hotel, and denies violent disorder.

Former soldier Peter Beard, 43, of Becknoll Road, Brampton Bierlow, Rotherham, was jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting pushing aggressively at the line of officers.

The father-of-three, who undertook tours of duty in Kosovo, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, was told by Judge Jeremy Richardson KC: “Your conduct was shameful, it was disgraceful and, in many respects, astonishing.”

Passing sentence at Sheffield Crown Court, the judge heard how Beard served in the Royal Green Jackets between 1998 and 2003, and said he was “astonished” that the defendant had become involved as he had been “on the receiving end” of public order incidents as a peacekeeper.

A 27-year-old man who threw a wood panel onto a fire outside the hotel admitted a charge of arson with intent to endanger life.

Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told Thomas Birley his offending is “unquestionably” the most serious of all those he has dealt with in the last fortnight in relation to the rioting outside the Holiday Inn Express, at Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4.

Birley, of Rowms Lane, Swinton, Rotherham, who also admitted violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon, will be sentenced on September 6.