A man has walked free from court after trolling the sister of a Hillsborough victim.
Louise Brookes held back tears in court as she told the troll that he is a "sickening coward" for saying that he wanted to defecate on her brother's grave. Zakir Hussain was given a 14-week jail sentence that was suspended for a year after targeting her in offensive Twitter messages in April 2020.
The 28-year-old, from Ilford, admitted five charges of sending malicious or obscene communications in the form of five separate Twitter messages that tagged Ms Brookes. The first tweet included a photo of Mr Brookes with superimposed faeces emojis.
Speaking at London's Stratford Magistrates' Court, the 51-year-old said: "Zakir doesn't know me and didn't know Andrew. I have never done anything to Zakir.
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"I didn't event know of Zakir until he trolled me but he think's it's okay to abuse me and mock my dead brother and the other Hillsborough victims and survivors. Well it is not okay and I'm not going to tolerate it.
"How many other disasters and tragedies do you know of where the innocent dead victims are blamed for their own deaths?"
The messages he sent were timed to coincide with the anniversary of the April 15 1989 disaster in which her brother Andrew, 26, was among 97 Liverpool fans who died as a result of a crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield.
They were unlawfully killed amid a number of police errors, an inquest jury ruled in 2016. Hussain had previously pleading guilty to five counts of sending messages on a public communication network that were grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character.
In one tweet, Hussain had sent message which was a photo of Mr Brookes that had four faeces emojis superimposed on to the image. There were threats to deface Mr Brookes' grave with urine and faeces, and he also made an anti-semitic reference in one of his other tweets, the court heard.
District Judge Shanta Deonarine, who also ordered Hussain to pay £500 compensation to Ms Brookes and that he must do 200 hours of community work, said: "I do find there was substantial distress caused."
She said the timing of the tweets was an aggravating factor, and added "this was an offence which took place using the internet with worldwide exposure" and through "targeted" comments "to maximise the effect to the deceased's sister".
Ms Brookes' voice broke as she spoke of the personal trauma that she and other bereaved Hillsborough families have endured due to internet trolls as Hussain could be seen physically shaking and rubbing his face as he sat in the dock.
Ms Brookes told the court: "These trolls have had a significant affect on both my mental health and physical health over the years. I suffer with depression, anxiety, panic attacks and PTSD. I have been prescribed by my GP to take Prozac and propranolol to try and control my depression, anxiety and panic attacks. I am taking the highest dose allowable."
She said there have been days when she even "seriously considered killing myself because I just can't take anymore".
His lawyer Clementine Simon said Hussain has never been to Liverpool, was not born at the time of the disaster and knows he "made a mistake that has hurt many people in the court."
She added: "He is sorry and he is so ashamed that he does not want someone to let his brother into the court." He has written a letter to the court saying his remarks were a "stupid mistake" he made during lockdown.
He is no longer on Twitter and does not have an online presence. A hearing to decide on a football banning order is set to take place at Thames Magistrates' Court on July 11.
Hussain also pleaded guilty to possession of a class B substance. He was not given an additional penalty for drugs possession when police found six cannabis cigarettes in his bedroom.
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