James Costello was worldwide leader of group which had ‘army of fanatics capable of deadly violence’
A delivery driver lived a double life as the worldwide leader of a racist church which called for a “holy race war”.
James Costello was identified as the self-styled “high priest” of the Creativity Movement, which “unashamedly promoted white supremacy and neo-Nazi ideology” and boasted an army of “fanatics capable of very serious and deadly violence”. The city’s top judge today described him as an “enthusiastic evangelist” for the group’s propaganda, which he distributed online and was “dripping with hate”.
A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard that the 38-year-old, of Old Rough Lane in Kirkby, posted written materials and audiobooks, which he personally narrated, for download on creativitymovement.net – a website which he “controlled and managed”. Hal Watson, prosecuting, described how his propaganda “called for the subjugation and elimination of non-white persons and the establishment of a white master race”.
He told jurors: “This is a call to arms and it is disturbing and distressing, and you may find that much of what you see and hear has absolutely no place in modern society. It is, put bluntly, awful and frightening and intended to disturb and disrupt our society.”
Much of the content of these materials cannot be repeated due to its highly offensive nature. But the ECHO can reveal that contained within the numerous documents spread by Costello were abhorrent references to Jewish people and people of colour.
The e-books and audio files sought a “racial holy war”. One – entitled RAHOWA, an abbreviation of “racial holy war” – stated that “RAHOWA is inevitable” and “the ultimate and only solution”.
Police raided Costello’s home in August 2021 after receiving numerous complaints when stickers “promoting” the group’s activities were left in public places around Merseyside over the previous months. They seized flags and banners bearing its messages from his house after linking him to the website’s IP address.
Officers also found a roll of stickers matching those posted on lampposts in the area bearing the domain, which has since been taken down, as well as others containing an email address connected to the defendant. Their search uncovered Creativity Movement “postcards” and leaflets with titles such as “Mobilize Nature’s Finest” and “Become a White Racial Loyalist”.
The seized materials contained “imagery with strong Nazist and white supremacist overtones”, all in the colours of red, white and black to “replicate Nazi imagery”. Costello meanwhile stated in his evidence from the witness box that he had been the “worldwide leader of the Creativity Movement” since at least 2017.
Detectives also found a “ministerial certificate”, ordaining him into a role with the aim of “spreading the word and recruiting persons to the church”, within his property. He was referred to as both “Reverend Costello” and “Pontifex Maximus”, or high priest, of the organisation – which was previously known as the World Church of the Creator and was founded in the USA in the 1970s.
Costello has no previous convictions, but was ordered to serve 300 hours of community service after going absent without leave between September 2006 and March 2012 while serving in the army. Dr Christopher Wood, defending, told the court this afternoon, Thursday, that his client worked for his brother as a warehouse operative and delivery driver and was also a “supporter of his local boxing club”.
He added: “The defendant’s education was significantly impaired. He left school at 13 with no qualifications whatsoever, primary due to an unstable lifestyle with issues around his mother’s alcohol and gambling addictions.
“From the age of 19, he joined the army. He was there for approximately two years until he went AWOL due to suffering a back injury.
“He did not return. However his absence was not missed by the army, and there were no concerns over his absence for five years until he was going on holiday to Tenerife and the army stopped him at the airport.
“He felt he was becoming a burden to them. With a heavy heart, he left for that reason.
“He has never been subject to a custodial setting. This will be of considerable concern to him.
“The defendant genuinely believed that what he was doing was lawful in expressing opinions and views that he had, but he accepts and take on board fully the jury’s verdicts and that what he was doing was not lawful. He is regretful of that.
“He does not want anyone to face abuse through their race. He said ‘I regret and apologise if my actions have caused any hurt to anyone’.
“Aged 13, the defendant ended up working for his father. He became exposed to extremist views, and clearly those have set in and stayed.
“The defendant is a family man and a hard worker. He can hopefully make amends.”
Costello was found guilty of 19 counts of stirring up racial hatred by publishing materials. He was jailed for five years.
Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said: “You have been convicted by the jury on overwhelming evidence of 19 offences involving the possession, publication and distribution of abusive and insulting material, intending to stir up racial hatred. I have no doubt that that was precisely your intention.
“This was a website unashamedly promoting white supremacy and neo-Nazi ideology. Creativity and the newer incarnation, the Creativity Movement, originated in the United States, and has been in existence for a number of years, since the early 1970s.
“In your evidence, you confirmed that, from 2017 at the very latest, you have been the leader of the Creativity Movement, not just in the UK but worldwide. Quite how big this movement is here or abroad is impossible to say, but sadly recent events – particularly in London – demonstrate that there is a worrying appetite for the sort of material that you were making available.
“It is not an offence to hold these views, however ridiculous they might be, or to seek to promote them in a temperate way, but that is not what you were doing. You were an enthusiastic evangelist for this material, every page of which was dripping with hate.
“The texts do not simply promote white supremacy – entirely gratuitously, they contain outrageously offensive language that would shock and appal any right-thinking person. The ultimate aim, as set out frequently, was the destruction of the Jewish race and all people of colour, achieved by means of a racial holy war.
“It may be that you did not write these words yourself or much of the other material, but this message was never disavowed by you. On the contrary, it was promoted actively by your efforts to make the website and its contents known widely, using marketing materials such as stickers, flags and banners.
“It may be that you yourself would not have used violence or directly discriminated against your perceived enemies, but the mischief of these offences is not confined to causing deep offence. It is the racial hatred that is stirred up and the direct action that is taken by extremists as a consequence.
“This is not an idle, unrealistic fear. The history of the Creativity Movement shows that its fanatics are capable of very serious and deadly violence.
“Hate crimes like this have a tendency to undermine communities and societies – making people feel like they do not belong, making communities fearful and untrusting of others. You say that, as a result of these proceedings, you realise that the material on the website was abusive and might cause hurt, something you did not intend and something you regret.
“Frankly, I doubt that very much. The highly racist and anti-semitic nature of the material you wanted the world to see and embrace was blindingly obvious.”
Liverpool Echo
Far-Right Criminals 