A proponent of anti-Covid vaccines was sentenced on Monday (18/11) in London to five years in prison for publishing messages inciting violence during the pandemic.

Patrick Rooney, 55, was found guilty of “promoting terrorism” at Old Bailey court for a series of messages he posted on Telegram.

In 2021 he had suggested “hitting the head” of the government’s top medical adviser, Professor Chris Whitey. In addition, in two debate groups with thousands of members, he railed against the creator of the AstraZeneca vaccine, expressing regret that “no one had shot him”.

In reading the verdict, Judge Richard Marks said that his messages were “too dangerous” in a time so “volatile”, stressing that people could have crossed over into action because of them.

“You have, of course, the right to express your views publicly and to do so persuasively and forcefully if you wish to do so,” said the judge, who added that “but you have gone too far and in doing so you are committing the offenses for which you were convicted.”

Chris Whitey, an adviser to Britain’s former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, regularly appeared at government press conferences on Covid, putting him in the crosshairs of anti-vaccine campaigners.