TWO teenagers who used a social networking website in a bid to start a riot in Dundee during this summer's disorder in England have been detained.
Shawn Divin, 16, and Jordan McGinley, 18, used a Facebook page named Riot In The Toon to call for unrest in Dundee.
More than 2000 people viewed the event posting online, in which they were invited to "kill some daftys", attack police and loot shops on August 17. A message also urged people to bring guns.
The pair admitted charges of breach of the peace at an earlier hearing. They were sentenced yesterday to three years' detention each for the offence.
Divin had an extra 15 months added for a breach of probation and the fact he committed the offence while on bail.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, Sheriff Elizabeth Munro said: "The crime committed by each accused was not committed in isolation. It was committed when there was widespread lawlessness. Each accused, in my view, intended to contribute to or aggravate that lawlessness."
Lawyers said the sentences would have been put in place to act as a deterrent to others.
Solicitor advocate John Scott, QC, said: "The sheriff will be working on the basis that if you incite large-scale violence, or try to, you could be responsible for more than a single bad assault.
"The sentences seem tough but they're deliberately tough to act as a deterrent.
"I would expect this will be tested in the appeal court."
Advocate Paul McBride, QC, said: "Some people may complain that if you incite a riot online, you get three years, but if you take part in a riot you only get one year, but the internet is a serious tool used for organised crime. I think you have to send out a message this is unacceptable."
The court heard how Tayside Police were alerted about the site on August 10.
Divin and McGinley did not create the page but agreed to be administrators. It invited people to turn up in the city centre on the night of August 17.
The court heard that, when Tayside Police intervened, 2048 members had viewed the event posting. A total of 221 people said they would attend and a further 68 said they might.
Divin told police it was a "joke that got a bit serious", he did not believe the riot would happen and had "no intention" of getting involved. McGinley told police it was "meant to be a joke".
Divin, listed as a prisoner in paperwork, and McGinley, of Dundee, admitted breaching the peace between August 9 and 11.
James Laverty, representing Divin, said the offence was not on the same scale as some English cases. He urged the sheriff to accept it was "gross stupidity" rather than an intention to become involved in disorder.
Paul Parker Smith, acting for McGinley, handed the sheriff a letter of apology composed by the teenager.
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