A man has denied sending abusive Twitter messages to the sister of a Hillsborough victim during his first hearing at magistrates court.
Zakir Hussain, 28, of no fixed abode, pleaded not guilty to one of five charges of sending malicious communications regarding five separate Twitter messages that tagged Louise Brookes, whose brother, Andrew Brookes, who was one of the 97 victims of the disaster.
The first tweet, which Hussain pleaded not guilty to sending, included a photo of Andrew Brooks that had faeces emojis superimposed on to the image. The four other tweets, which Hussain plead guilty to sending, included threats to deface Andrew Brookes’ grave with urine and faeces, and made reference to Spurs fans as “Jewish rapists”. Hussain also faced an additional charge regarding being in possession of a class B substance, to which he pleaded guilty.
Hussain, who represented himself at the hearing at Thames magistrates court, spoke to confirm his full name and date of birth, as well as to plead not guilty to the first charge on the basis that he did not post the image on Twitter, but had responded to a separate tweet that had used the image in question.
The Crown Prosecution Service will make the case that all of the tweets, including the first one, did indeed come from Hussain’s account. If found guilty, Hussain could face a custodial sentence.
Hussain was released on bail but is required to sign on at a local police station twice a week until the trial, which is set to take place on 22 June at Stratford magistrates court.
