British man faces prison for costume joke

A British man is facing prison time for an off-color Halloween costume.

David Wootton posted photos of himself on social media showing him dressed as terrorist Salman Abedi. In 2017, Abedi detonated a suicide bomb at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, killing 22 people and wounding over a thousand more.

In one photo, Wootton is wearing a keffiyeh and a sign saying “I [heart] Ariana Grande.” Another photo showed a black backpack with the words “boom” and “TNT” written on it.

According to the Daily Mail, the 40-year-old Brit posted the photos with the caption: “Bet I get kicked out of the party.” He later posted: “Only went and won the best costume.”

Wootton was arrested and last week pled guilty to “sending an offensive message online.” He faces two years in prison and will be sentenced on October 3rd.

Andrea Hill, a 40-year-old compatriot of Wootton’s, helped provide evidence against him. 

“He's a scumbag who deserves everything coming to him,” said Hill. “I hope his guilty plea gives the families of the arena bombing victims some comfort that justice will be done.”

Police gave the following statement:

North Yorkshire Police can confirm that a man has been arrested after the force received complaints about a man wearing an offensive costume on social media, depicting murderer, Salman Abedi who killed 22 people at Manchester Arena.

The man, who is aged in his 40s, was arrested on 1 November on suspicion of a number of offences including using a public communication network to send offensive messages.

Wootton is only the latest offender in a continuing crackdown on taxpayers who post “harmful” or “offensive” content. 

Former athlete faces prison for criticizing women

British ex-soccer player Joey Barton is also facing two years in prison after he criticized two female soccer commentators on X. Barton compared Eni Alukio and Lucy Ward, two soccer players-turned-sportscasters, to serial killers Fred and Rose West. The Wests were an English couple who murdered 12 women over the course of 20 years between 1967 and 1987.

The posts were reported as offensive and Barton’s trial is scheduled for May next year.

Police investigate woman for criticizing transgender doctor

In June, The Gold Report reported that London’s Metropolitan Police were investigating Maya Forstater for criticizing a transgender doctor who boasted that his patients are unaware he is a man. Forstater, who heads the women’s rights group Sex Matters, had therefore voiced concerns about whether the patients of Dr. Kamilla Kamaruddin were giving their informed consent. In a tweet, Forstater said Dr. Kamaruddin “enjoys intimately examining female patients without their consent.”

Last year, police summoned the 51-year-old Forstater to Charing Cross Police Station, where they threatened her with arrest for “malicious communications.” They interrogated her about whether she meant “to target a member of the transgender community” and if she understood that her “tweet could be perceived as transphobic.” Police also wanted to know if Forstater had any “remorse” for her tweet.

When investigators demanded “evidence” that Dr. Kamaruddin examines his patients without their consent, Forstate pointed the police to Kamaruddin’s own words, in which he appears to admit to examining patients without them knowing he is truly a man.

Police interrogate elderly woman for snapping photo

In August last year, British police interrogated an elderly West Yorkshire woman for a “hate crime” after she snapped a photo of a sign expressing support for women.

The 73-year-old taxpayer used her phone to photograph a sign which read, “Stand by your trans” on which someone had placed a sticker reading, “Keep males out of women-only spaces.” Though she did not share the photo on social media, a CCTV surveillance camera caught her taking the photo. Days later two West Yorkshire Police officers called her at home claiming they were investigating the action as a hate crime and then tried to re-educate the woman.

Police arrest autistic child for ‘lesbian’ remark

That incident came just weeks after Leeds police violently arrested an autistic child for remarking that she thought a policewoman looked like a “lesbian.” The 16-year-old, who has scoliosis, was held in custody for 20 hours before being released.

Police arrest mother at her home for ‘misgendering’

In June last year, Surrey Police attempted to assign a probation officer to a journalist accused of “misgendering” and to monitor all her communications. 

Caroline Farrow, a journalist and mother of five, was the subject of a five-month-long police investigation in 2019 for opinions she expressed on social media regarding gender disorientation. According to Farrow, her chief crime was “misgendering” — referring to someone by their actual gender when the person identifies by the opposite gender.

In 2022, Farrow was also arrested in her home for “malicious communications and harassment” while she was making dinner for her children. Photos provided by Farrow show police forcing their way into her house. When she asked to see a warrant, they replied, “We don’t need one.” Police seized several electronic devices, including some from her husband’s parish next door. They then brought Farrow outside where a female officer subjected her to a body search and took her to the station.

Police arrest taxpayers for posts about rainbow flags

In December 2022, London’s Metropolitan Police summoned James Goddard to a meeting due to a social media post that offended supporters of rainbow flags.

Five months earlier, a decorated British war veteran was arrested for “malicious communications” after police received a complaint about one of his social media posts. The offending post showed a swastika made of rainbow flags, a commentary on the state-sponsored intimidation of citizens to embrace same-sex relations and gender disorientation.