Mason Reynolds annotated a map and noted the synagogue’s busiest days, the court heard

A teenager with neo-Nazi views who drew up a plan to carry out a suicide bomb attack on a synagogue in Hove has been jailed.

Mason Reynolds, 19, from Brighton, was previously convicted of having an article connected with the preparation of an act of terrorism and had admitted 10 offences relating to terrorist publications and material.

At Winchester Crown Court, Mrs Justice May told him she considered him “dangerous”, adding documents he kept showed “how entrenched your interest in far-right ideology had become”.

Reynolds was jailed for eight years, with five on extended licence.

‘Toxic path’

The judge said: “You intended to encourage terrorism. This was propaganda pure and simple.”

Prosecuting, Naomi Parsons said Reynolds had annotated a Google street map and satellite image of the synagogue with “entry points and points to attack”.

She said Reynolds had an extensive library of manuals, including explosives manuals and gun-making manuals.

“There was the potential to endanger many lives. He included references to the days when the synagogue would be busiest, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover,” she said.

The court heard the teenager, from Moulsecoomb Way, possessed live-streamed videos of terrorist attacks including those by Brenton Tarrant in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Anders Breivik in Norway.

Reynolds promoted the neo-Nazi agenda on social media, wrote that he wanted to “make Jews afraid again”, and posted a promotional video for a proscribed organisation, the court was told.

Amy Packham, mitigating, said his interest in the far right developed during Covid lockdown. She said: “He would never have taken this action into real life, this was all online, behind the barrier of the internet.”

After the hearing, Det Ch Supt Olly Wright, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East, said: “This is another case involving a young person following a toxic extreme right-wing terrorist and anti-semitic path.

“The fact Reynolds had such a detailed plan to attack a synagogue is really concerning. However, as a result of our investigation, Reynolds was prevented from progressing the plan into action.”

BBC News

A Leicestershire man, who described a mass killer as a ‘hero’ and shared harrowing footage of a terrorist attack, has been jailed for encouraging terrorism.

Edward Griffiths (pictured) sent videos to people of the terrorist attack – which was committed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019 and resulted in the killing of 51 people – stating he would “love” to do what the perpetrator of the attacks did. Griffiths also stated that he would “like” to go on a killing spree and talked about different people he would like to kill.

In a social media post, the 44-year-old also described the perpetrator of the Christchurch attacks as a “hero”.

The police and prosecution’s case did not allege that Griffiths was planning any specific attack but that he had an extreme mindset and was reckless about whether his actions would encourage others to commit terrorist acts.

The offences by Griffiths were committed between November 2021 and June 2022. Following an investigation, officers from Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands (CTPEM) executed a warrant in June 2022, which saw Griffiths, of Hermitage Road in Whitwick, Coalville, arrested at his home.

Griffiths admitted being the user of various social media profiles but mostly answered ‘no comment’ in interview. In a later interview he said sending the video around was wrong, that he had shared it with a few close friends and that he had been going through a bad time in his life during the Covid pandemic.

Griffiths was charged in May last year and, following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court last month, he was found guilty of one count of encouragement of terrorism and of two counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication.

Today (Friday 7 June 2024) he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.

Detective Inspector Glynn Jehu, from CTPEM, said: “Fifty one people lost their lives in the Christchurch attacks. Spreading messages of extreme hate and violence in the way that Griffiths did is dangerous, reckless and could easily have encouraged others to commit an act of terrorism.

“It was therefore important that we stopped this by acting on information received, investigating the communications fully and bringing Griffiths before the courts.

“Please remember that information you provide to us can help to stop acts of terrorism or the encouragement of acts of terrorism. If you have any information about activity or behaviour that doesn’t feel right, please report it so that action can be taken. You can find more information on how you can help at What You Can Do | Counter Terrorism Policing

CT Police

The 15-year-old’ had notebooks filled with racist thoughts and had online chats with white supremacist groups

A teenager who filled notebooks with “abhorrent in the extreme” racist thoughts, had online chats with white supremacist groups and filmed himself throwing a petrol bomb will be sentenced by a crown court judge.

The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared for sentencing at Leeds Youth Court on Friday by senior district judge Paul Goldspring, who decided he did not have a wide enough range of powers to deal with him.

Judge Goldspring heard how teachers at the boy’s school became so concerned after he scrawled on his mock GCSE physics paper, that they eventually called counter-terror police. When officers arrived at his home in December 2023, his mother told them: “It’s about my son, isn’t it?” and she already had a range of items ready for them to inspect on the dining table of their house in Stockton.

Prosecutor Ashleigh Metcalfe told the judge about drawings found in the house, relating to a range of far-right ideologies, including one featuring a gas mask, accompanied by “6MWE”. Ms Metcalfe said this is a reference to the holocaust and means “six million not enough”.

There were also references to the proscribed organisation, the Atomwaffen Division and a Star of David surrounded by the words “lies”. The prosecutor said one red notebook was full of material that showed an “extreme far-right-wing ideology”.

Ms Metcalfe said the police also discovered 78 chats the boy had engaged with on the Telegram platform, which included the sharing of videos of well-known terror atrocities around the world. In one, the defendant had added a soundtrack to Brenton Tarrant’s live stream video of his murders in the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, in New Zealand.

In another, he says: “I’ve been trying to steal Korans from my school to burn”.

The court heard how the police found a video of the teenager wearing a skull mask and throwing a petrol bomb to the floor. Ms Metcalfe said an analysis of the boy’s devices uncovered documents including The Terrorist’s Handbook and The Improvised Munitions Handbook, which included instructions for making weapons and explosives.

The boy’s solicitor Julian Gaskin said his client had now been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. He said the defendant was extremely isolated at school and said he latched on to a community at a time of extreme vulnerability.

Mr Gaskin said: “He has found something that is wholly inappropriate, but found some sense of belonging, how unpalatable as that is.” The solicitor added: “He doesn’t hold the views, or espouse them now,” and explained how he comes from a “loving family”.

The boy burst into tears as he explained to Mr Goldspring some of the problems he has had at school. The judge said he understood these problems but was struggling to see the link to extreme-right wing ideology.

Asked if he wanted to explain this, the boy shook his head, visibly too upset to speak.

Mr Goldspring said he had dealt with a lot of young people who are essentially “keyboard warriors” but he said the defendant’s actions “go far further than that, including videoing himself throwing a Molotov cocktail”. He said: “What you said and did was abhorrent in the extreme.”

Mr Goldspring explained that a crown judge needed to deal with the case due to their wider range of sentencing powers.

The judge told the defendant that, although these included greater powers in relation to how long he could be placed in custody, that was not the inevitable outcome of the case. He said the crown court also had greater powers in relation to non-custodial sentences.

The boy has admitted five counts of collecting information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, three counts of disseminating terrorist publications, one offence of criminal damage and one of racially aggravated criminal damage.

He was given conditional bail and will appear at Leeds Crown Court at a date to be fixed.

Gazette Live

A 31 year old man from Barnsley has today (Thursday, June 6) been sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment and one year on licence for terrorism and indecent images offences.

He will also be subject to a ten year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Ryan JACKSON (11/02/1993) of Wath Road, Brampton, was arrested in July 2021 as part of an intelligence led investigation into an online right-wing extremist chat group. Members of the Telegram group from across the UK came together to exchange racist views, propaganda, and terror manuals, while advocating the use of violence to further their cause. Linked investigations have led to six other members of the Telegram chat being convicted and sentenced to over 40 years imprisonment for terrorism and firearms offences.

A search was conducted at Jackson’s home following his arrest, resulting in 25 digital exhibits being seized and subject to detailed examination. He was found to have collected terrorist publications and had shared instructional terrorist material in the Telegram group.

While expert investigators were examining the devices, it was also found that Jackson had amassed over 900 indecent images of children, and over 200 extreme pornographic images involving animals.

Jackson was charged in November 2022, and pleaded guilty to the following offences at hearings in September 2023 and March 2024:

Five offences of collect/make a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58, Terrorism Act 2000

One offence of dissemination of a terrorist publication, contrary to Section 2, Terrorism Act 2006

Three offences of make indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of children, contrary to Section 1, Protection of Children Act 1978

One offence of possession of prohibited images of children, contrary to Section 62, Coroners and Justice Act 2009

One offence of possession of extreme pornographic images, contrary to Section 63, Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley said:

“I am grateful to the officers in this case that have conducted a thorough investigation and ensured that Jackson has been brought to justice for the number of crimes that he has committed.

“This case demonstrates the seriousness of engaging in extremist behaviour online and the real world consequences of doing so.

“Anyone found to be involved in such activity can expect to be identified and put before the courts.

“I would encourage anyone who is aware of extreme material online, to report it to police so we can take appropriate action.”

CT Police

A Nazi follower posted anti-Semitic messages on Facebook saying that Israel should be “wiped off the face of the earth” and made sickening references to gassing Jews.

Neil Lloyd posted several comments when the war between Israel and Hamas began in October last year, signing off his comments with “HH”, which the court came to mean shorthand for “Heil Hitler”.

Officers arrested him at his home on St Andrew’s Road in Castleford on October 20 and found various Nazi videos and books ere found, along with a flag bearing a Swastika and the insignia of the SS was drawn on the former outside toilet at his home, Leeds Crown Court was told.

He even asked for a copy of Hitler’s books Mein Kampf when in police custody. He admitted publishing material likely to stir up racial hatred, but claimed it was reckless, telling the court that he was watching the news on Al Jazeera at the time and it upset him, and that he was sorry for what he did.

He also claimed signing off the messages with HH was meant to mean “haha”, but this was rejected by Judge Richard Mansell KC who said it was “implausible”, “unconvincing” and labelled it “nonsense”. He jailed Lloyd for 15 months and told him he was “fanning the flames” of anti-Semitism.

Prosecutor Adam Birkby said the 61-year-old posted nine comments on Facebook between October 7 and 19 last year. Among the comments he said “Go go Palestine”, “Hitler should have paid the gas bill” and “all they want is that land, fire up the ovens”, clearly reffering to the murder of Jews in gas chambers during the Second World War. The court heard he got a minimal amount of likes from his followers for the comments.

After his arrest he told officers they were his beliefs but tried to pass off the comments about gassing Jews as his “sense of humour”.

Mitigating, Richard Canning said: “He does regret this incident. He does show genuine remorse. He is not a young man. What he did was wrong and he accepts that.”

Lloyd told the court he also had no friends, did not go out, was blind and had serious health problems.

But Judge Mansell told Lloyd that custody was inevitable. He told him: “You have precious little insight into the gravity of what you have done. You clearly hold entrenched racist views against Jewish people.

“I’m satisfied you were intending to stir up racial hatred. You were fanning the flames of anti-Semitic sentiment.”

Yorkshire Evening Post

Neo Nazi Gareth Waite, 47, is set to be sentenced next month after being convicted by a jury of four counts of transmitting a terrorist publication electronically, among others

A neo-Nazi who shared a document on ethnic cleansing and bragged his hometown was “97% white” faces a prison sentence.

Gareth Waite, 47, uploaded several ‘strategy’ documents relating to a proscribed far-right terrorist organisation National Action, jurors heard. The terrorist publications included The Anarchist Handbook, How to Start and Train a Militia Unit, CIA explosives for sabotage manual, and 100 deadly skills.

Police began their investigations into the Welshman after he boasted about the number of white people in his hometown of Cardigan. He had also uploaded an ethnic cleansing operation’ document, as well as two National Action strategy documents and Adolf Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf.

Prosecutor Maryam Syed, KC, earlier said: “In August 2019 somebody with the username 8bit uploaded to the world future mx website the following documents. National Action is a far right neo-Nazi organisation and is based in the UK.

“It was founded in 2013 and the group is secretive and has rules to prevent members from talking about it openly. It has been a proscribed banned organisation in the UK since the terrorism act of 2000 made it so on the 16th of December 2016.

“Enquiries were then carried out to identify who this individual was and who was the end-user of certain accounts being used. He was also identified because he used a Pepe the Frog meme with a pink bra over the eyes as a profile picture on several of his anonymous online accounts.

“8bit also had accounts on something called Keybase and world truth mx social. World truth mx media – it’s a social media site and it’s a free speech site and it is populated predominantly with right wing content. These are social media platforms. When the police checked the accounts the username ‘8bitkek’ stated in its biography: National Socialist Wales.”

Waite denied but was convicted by the jury of four counts of transmitting a terrorist publication electronically and two counts of possessing a document containing information useful to terrorism. He earlier admitted expressing an opinion or belief that was supportive of a proscribed terrorist organisation. Judge Andrew Lees remanded Waite in custody ahead of sentencing on 2 June.

Daily Mirror

A man who hailed a white supremacist who killed 51 people at two mosques as a “hero” has been found guilty of terror offences.

Edward Griffiths sent footage to people of the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attacks in New Zealand, saying he would “love” to do the same.

Griffiths also said he would “like” to go on a killing spree, describing potential victims and weapons.

He was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court.

The 44-year-old, from Hermitage Road, Whitwick, Leicestershire, was found guilty of encouraging terrorism and two counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication on Wednesday.

He will be sentenced on 7 June.

Leicestershire Police said the case against Griffiths did not allege that he was planning any specific attack, but that he had an “extreme mindset” and was “reckless about whether his actions would encourage others to commit terrorist acts”.

After committing the offences between November 2021 and June 2022, counter-terrorism officers arrested Griffiths during a raid of his home.

The force said Griffiths admitted being behind a number of social media profiles, but mostly answered “no comment” in interview.

He later said sending video around was wrong, that he had shared it with a few close friends and that he had been going through a bad time in his life during the Covid pandemic.

Det Insp Glynn Jehu, from Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands, said: “Fifty-one people lost their lives in the Christchurch attacks.

“Spreading messages of extreme hate and violence in the way that Griffiths did is dangerous, reckless and could easily have encouraged others to commit an act of terrorism.”

Brenton Tarrant, the gunman who shot and killed worshippers in the attacks, pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder and one count of terrorism in 2020.

He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the maximum available sentence in New Zealand.

BBC News

Adrian Monk, formerly of Rugeley in Staffordshire, was found to have possessed a number of far right terrorist documents

Adrian Monk formerly of Rugeley in Staffordshire was put behind bars after admitting possessing a number of far right terror documents

A man has been put behind bars for far right terrorism offences after documents were found at his Staffordshire home. Adrian Monk’s former home in Rugeley, Staffordshire, was raided and searched by detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands CTU (counter-terrorism unit).

And within it were several terrorist documents. Monk was charged with 10 offences of possession of a document containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism – Contrary to Section 58 Terrorism Act 2000 last August.

He admitted the offences at a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court in March. The 33-year-old who had moved to Little Eaton in Derbyshire, north of Derby, was jailed for five years and two months at his sentencing hearing on Wednesday (May 8).

Detective Chief Superintendent Alison Hurst, who leads CTP West Midlands CTU, said: “Terrorism documents can contain very disturbing and dangerous content making it illegal to have them. We will work to remove these documents to stop the propaganda and onward sharing of such material.

“We will continue to protect local communities by working with partners and the CPS to pursue and prosecute all those who show support for terrorism. We work tirelessly to counter terrorism. Our absolute priority is to ensure the safety and security of the people who live, work and visit the West Midlands area.”

A force spokesperson added: “Every year thousands of reports from the public help police tackle the terrorist threat. If you see or hear something that doesn’t seem right, trust your instincts and ACT by reporting to police in confidence at gov.uk/ACT.

“Reporting won’t ruin lives, but it could save them. Action Counters Terrorism. Remember, in an emergency, always dial 999.”

Birmingham Mail

Detective Constable Janet Percival has won her libel action against the disgraced radio presenter, who was convicted of criminal harassment in September 2022 and sentenced to five and a half years in prison

Former BBC presenter Alex Belfield has been ordered to pay substantial damages after the convicted stalker falsely accused the Nottinghamshire Police detective investigating him of corruption.

Detective Constable Janet Percival has won her libel action against the disgraced radio presenter, who was convicted of criminal harassment in September 2022 and sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

In July 2020 DC Percival was put in charge of the criminal investigation into complaints by a number of individuals, including broadcaster Jeremy Vine, of harassment and cyber stalking by Belfield. He then started broadcasting YouTube videos which made very serious allegations against Janet Percival, all of which were untrue.

Over the course of some 15 videos, he accused her of numerous acts of misconduct and corruption including acting unlawfully in police raids on his home, repeatedly lying to the courts, making threats against him, changing a witness statement to mislead the court, receiving corrupt payments, and unlawfully taking equipment from him. Belfield dismissed DC Percival’s legal letter, prompting her to start court proceedings for libel – a statement about someone that is untrue and would harm the reputation or livelihood of that person.

After losing the case, Belfield will have to pay the officer a substantial sum for compensation and legal costs, and in court he offered a “sincere and unqualified apology” for the embarrassment and distress caused by his lies. DC Percival’s solicitor, Jeremy Clarke-Williams of Penningtons Manches Cooper, told the court that: “As a serving police officer Janet Percival is unfortunately used to dealing with hostility from people she has arrested, but Alex Belfield’s online campaign peddling serious untruths about her was something she could not ignore. It was too damaging.”

The detective explained her court victory would allow her to focus on policing without Belfield’s false allegations hanging over her. “I am very pleased that through taking this action I have been able to vindicate my reputation, which is very precious to me,” she said.

“I take pride in always conducting myself professionally and honestly as a police officer, and the baseless and false allegations which Mr Belfield broadcast about me were extremely upsetting. It is a huge relief that I can now get on with my police career without this cloud hanging over me.”

Nottingham Post

Thomas Connington was given a lifelong restriction order in 2017 after setting fire to an Edinburgh mosque.

A man jailed for trying to burn down a mosque has been sentenced to a further 10 years for “premediated, sadistic and violent” attacks on four other prisoners.

Thomas Connington, 36, pleaded guilty to attacking the four men at HMP Perth between May 2021 and June 2023, while subject to a lifelong restriction order imposed following the 2016 attack on the Central Mosque in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh High Court heard he threw boiling water at inmate Gordon Simpson on May 20, 2021, causing him second-degree burns, and on August 13 that year he used a toothbrush with a razorblade embedded in it to slash Adam Fraser, permanently disfiguring him.

He then attacked inmates Liam Russell and Sam Roan with a toothbrush with a blade in it on June 23 2023, leaving the men seriously injured and permanently disfigured.

Judge Lord Fairley told the court the attacks were “premeditated, sadistic and violent”.

He told Connington: “In 2017 you were made subject to an order for lifelong restriction.

“The judge who imposed the order described you as someone who relishes violence and who may attack strangers randomly and without reason. That description seems to me to be emphatically borne out.”

He told Connington that it was up to the probation service to decide whether or not he should ever be released from his lifelong restriction order, but warned him each new offence “decreases the likelihood you will be deemed suitable for release back into society”.

“The only person who can change that will be you,” he said.

He sentenced Connington to a further 10 years in prison, to begin as soon as his existing sentence ends.

Connington, who attended the hearing via videolink from HMP Low Moss, showed no reaction as the sentence was handed down.

Earlier, prosecutor BJ Gill KC told the court that Connington had “numerous previous convictions for violence”, including a number of attacks on fellow prisoners.

Connington’s advocate, Kris Gilmartin, acknowledged there was “scant mitigation” for his client’s actions, but said they arose as a result of conflict with other prisoners, and were never directed at prison staff.

Evening Standard