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| Internet racism pair lose appeal | Internet racism pair lose appeal |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Two men have lost their appeals against the UK's first conviction for inciting racial hatred via a foreign website. | Two men have lost their appeals against the UK's first conviction for inciting racial hatred via a foreign website. |
| Simon Sheppard, 51, was sentenced to four years and 10 months, and Stephen Whittle, 42, to two years and four months at Leeds Crown Court in July. | Simon Sheppard, 51, was sentenced to four years and 10 months, and Stephen Whittle, 42, to two years and four months at Leeds Crown Court in July. |
| However, the Court of Appeal has reduced Sheppard's sentence by one year and Whittle's jail term by six months. | However, the Court of Appeal has reduced Sheppard's sentence by one year and Whittle's jail term by six months. |
| Sheppard, from Selby, North Yorks, and Whittle, of Preston, Lancs, controlled US websites featuring racist material. | Sheppard, from Selby, North Yorks, and Whittle, of Preston, Lancs, controlled US websites featuring racist material. |
| During their first trial in 2008, they skipped bail and fled to California, where they sought asylum claiming they were being persecuted for their right-wing views, but were deported. | |
| The police investigation began after a complaint about a leaflet called "Tales of the Holohoax", which was pushed through the door of a Blackpool synagogue and traced back to a post office box in Hull registered to Sheppard. | |
| 'Abusive and insulting' | |
| Published material found later included images of murdered Jews alongside cartoons and articles ridiculing ethnic groups. | |
| The pair were charged under the Public Order Act with publishing racially inflammatory material, distributing racially inflammatory material and possessing racially inflammatory material with a view to distribution. | |
| Sheppard, of Brook Street, Selby, was found guilty of 16 offences and Whittle, of Avenham Lane, Preston, was found guilty of five. | |
| Sentencing them, Judge Rodney Grant said he had rarely seen material which was so abusive and insulting. | |
| Sheppard's counsel Adrian Davies told the Appeal Court the sites were "entirely lawful" in the US. | |
| He said that there was no evidence that anyone in England and Wales - except for the police officer in the case - had ever seen any of them. |