A mother and daughter who ran a prolonged campaign of racist and antisemitic abuse online and on the streets of their local community were jailed at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
Shirley Craughwell was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment and her daughter Hannah Craughwell to 16 months after both pleaded guilty to multiple offences involving threatening and abusive behaviour and the stirring up of racial hatred.
Passing sentence, Sheriff Douglas Walls described the scale and severity of the offending as “deeply disturbing”, emphasising that the case involved far more than offensive speech.
As Searchlight reported earlier, over several years, Shirley Craughwell disseminated thousands of racist, antisemitic and violent messages, voice notes, images and videos, alongside the physical distribution of inflammatory leaflets in public places.
Her material promoted neo-Nazi ideology, praised Adolf Hitler, endorsed conspiracy theories such as “white replacement” and explicitly called for violence against minority communities.
The sheriff highlighted the particularly grave aggravation of Craughwell involving a child in her extremist activity, including encouraging Nazi salutes and posting images online.
He rejected any suggestion that her conduct was casual or accidental, noting its duration, volume and level of planning, including attempts to evade detection.
Glorified nazism
Her daughter, Hannah Craughwell, who operated under the username “Hannah Hitler” on the far-right platform Gab, similarly engaged in sustained online extremism.
Her posts glorified Nazism, denied or trivialised the Holocaust and targeted Jews, Muslims, Black people, LGBTQ+ individuals and politicians of colour with racist abuse. She also distributed provocative leaflets locally and boasted about doing so online.
Hannah Craughwell used a Facebook account in the name of Goyim AH to distribute vile antisemitic and racist material. On the account, she was listed as the only friend and every post was tagged to her alone.
Sheriff Walls assessed culpability and harm as being high for both women, stressing that although there was no single identified victim, the corrosive impact of such material on wider society was substantial.
He dismissed claims that the content amounted to “making fun” or private exchanges, noting that there was no way of knowing how widely the material had spread.
Not acceptable
While both women had limited previous convictions, and Hannah Craughwell’s mental health and family circumstances were considered, the court concluded that only immediate custody was appropriate.
“Violent and racist language of this sort is not an acceptable form of political expression,” the sheriff said, adding that the sentences must serve as public denunciation.
