Chris Sayer: Journalism

A man was yesterday sentenced to three years two months after pleading guilty to race hate crime and 33 counts of child pornography.

Black teenager Anthony Walker, 18, was brutally murdered last year with an ice pick, provoking Neil Martin, 30, to write on his website that white people should praise the murder. He also posted how the victim’s family should be burnt, and made references to slavery. Police also found thirty three examples of child pornography on his computer.

Heather Lloyd, defending, said how Martin was “isolated and living in a fantasy world” and how he was “deeply ashamed” with his actions, which led to him writing a letter of apology to the Walker family after Anthony’s murder.

During police interviews Martin insisted he was not a racist, and had posted the comments after the murder to stir up an argument.

The court also heard of how Martin had set up an internet profile posing as a school girl on teenage chat rooms.

Judge Henry Globe QC, recorder of Liverpool, told Martin “You accessed that website and you abused its use. You posted highly abusive, insulting and racist messages on the site”.

Martin pleaded guilty to publishing material likely to stir up racial hatred and making indecent photographs of children. He was sentenced to two years and eight months yesterday for race hate crime and six months for child pornography offences.

After the sentencing, Anthony’s mother, Gee Walker said she was satisfied with the sentence, but did not accept the written apology Martin had sent her.

“Hitler started with an idea, slavery started with an idea, so it is good that this was stopped in time” she said.