An opponent of COVID-19 vaccines was sentenced Monday in London to five years in prison for publishing messages inciting violence during the pandemic.
Patrick Ruane, 55, was found guilty of “promoting terrorism” at the Old Bailey over a series of messages posted on Telegram.
In 2021, he notably suggested the use of blunt weapons to “hit” the government’s chief medical adviser, Professor Chris Whitty, in the head.
In two discussion groups with thousands of members, he also attacked the creator of the AstraZeneca vaccine, regretting that no one had “shot” him.
Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Richard Marks said his messages were “extremely dangerous” at such an “unstable” time, noting that people could have taken action because of them.
“You were, of course, entitled to express your views publicly and to do so in a completely cogent and forceful manner if you wished,” the judge said. “But you went much further, and in doing so, you committed the offenses for which you are convicted,” he added.
Chris Whitty, an adviser to former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, regularly appeared at government press briefings on COVID-19, making him a target for anti-vaxxers.
In 2022, a man was sentenced to eight weeks in prison after accosting and grabbing Chris Whitty in a central London park the year before.
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