Two men have been given jail terms for trying to incite a riot on Facebook during last week's wave of rioting, looting and violence across England, media reported Wednesday.
Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, were both sentenced to four years, although neither of the events the men attempted to organize actually took place, DPA reported.
The sentences - the longest handed out so far in the hundreds of speedy court convictions of rioters across the country - were passed by the Crown Court in the north-western city of Chester late Tuesday.
Both men pleaded guilty to "intentionally encouraging another to assist the commission of an indictable offence" under sections 44 and 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
The judge said that, even though the men's call for violence and rioting was not taken up, the sentences were meant to act as a "deterrent" in the wake of the riots.
However, civil right and penal reform groups have criticized some of the sentences handed down as "disproportionate."