A pub-goer has been convicted of a hate crime after he shared an offensive message on Facebook hailing the suspect accused of the New Zealand mosque shootings as a ''hero.''
Anthony Nolan, 48, posted the picture of Brenton Tarrant on his social media page after it was sent to him by a fellow regular from his local pub.
The image was accompanied by the caption: “If a half naked girl can get 500 likes how many likes can this hero get?”
The post remained on Nolan's Facebook for two hours before he took it down but he was reported to police.
The incident on March 15 this year occurred just hours after Tarrant, 28, was arrested over a mass shooting outside two mosques in Christchurch which left 51 people dead and 49 injured.
He is waiting trial in June next year charged with murder attempted murder and engaging in a terrorist act.
At Manchester Magistrates' Court, Nolan, a roofer from Bury, admitted an offence of sending an offensive message of a racial nature and was fined £185 and ordered to pay costs and surcharges of £115.
Prosecutor Victoria Newman said: ''It was not long after the awful terrorist attack in New Zealand.
''He was present at a local public house and was shown a picture on a mobile phone of the defendant accused of the mass murder. There was a comment on picture saying: 'if a half naked girl can get 500 likes how many likes can this hero get?'
"Mr Nolan asked for the picture and the person sent it to him and he was foolish enough to put it on his social media page."
In mitigation defence lawyer Mr Mumtaz Chaudry said: ''He was in a pub and this incident in New Zealand was fresh in peoples minds and talking about it. It was someone he knows who had the picture.
''The defendant didn’t have WiFi in the pub but when he got home he then got the message from one of his friends. His mistake is that he has posted that image with the caption on Facebook.
''It was only on for a couple of hours and he accepts that there was potential to stir up racial hatred.
"It was offensive - and there is no question about that - but he’s not a racist person and there's no racial hatred in his personality. He has a son who’s half Asian.
''This was one image shared for a short period of time - and once he realised the offence it could cause, he took it off. ''
Sentencing chairman of the bench Alison Edwards told Nolan: "What you did is very serious and I cannot imagine why you would want to do something like that.
"It stirs up so many problems.''
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