GRAHAM Evans, MP for Weaver Vale, has backed the four year sentence given to Jordan Blackshaw for inciting riots and looting in Northwich town centre.

Blackshaw, aged 20 from Marston, set up a Facebook group entitled “Smash Down Northwich Town” for the night of 8 August, at the height of the violence across the country.

He used Facebook to urge members of the “Mob Hill Massive” to gather at McDonalds in the centre of town and to carry out “lootin”.

However, Cheshire Police had been monitoring the Facebook page and when Blackshaw turned up at the arranged time, he was promptly arrested.

Mr Evans MP said: “Northwich is only a small town. If Blackshaw had been successful in organising violence and looting, the damage to our high street could have been devastating.

“I shudder to think how many businesses would have been affected and how many local residents would have been put in danger.

“This wasn’t just some idiot writing something silly on the internet. Blackshaw actively tried to organise looting and turned up at the meeting point, clearly intending to attempt to ‘smash down’ our town.

“To reduce a sentence because a riot organiser failed in his stated task would seem to only be a reward for his own incompetence.”

Mr Evans went on to back the speed with which Blackshaw was dealt with by the courts.

He added: “I also want to pay tribute to all those in the criminal justice system who have been able to get through so many cases in such a short space of time. When a small minority are trying to actively rebel against the rule of law, it is absolutely critical that justice is swiftly served and a tough message is sent out loud and clear.