Mark Brown (36) was jailed for two months in 2019 for a “vile” racially motivated assault on a taxi driver

A former leader of the National Front in Northern Ireland has been arrested during a protest against asylum seekers in Portrush.

Mark Brown (36) was arrested by police on Sunday after he began to approach a group of counter-protesters.

Protestors held a Union flag during the demonstration alongside a banner displaying the slogans ‘Keep our children safe’ and ‘Close the migrant hotels now’.

A National Front flag was also erected on the fence surrounding a war memorial on Kerr Street during the protest.

The PSNI confirmed Brown had been given a penalty notice for disorder (PND).

“A 36 year old man was arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour during protests in the Kerr Street area of Portrush on Sunday afternoon,” said a spokesperson.

“He was subsequently given a Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND).

“Officers were present in the area to ensure the safety of those participating in protest and counter-protest.”

Earlier this month, this newspaper revealed Brown was behind the protest as well as being the administrator of organising Facebook group ‘North Coast Concerned Collective’.

The group had organised the protest against the use of hotels in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area as accommodation for asylum seekers.

It followed comments from newly-elected TUV councillor Allister Kyle voicing concern that the former Magherabuoy House Hotel was to be used under new ownership to provide accommodation for asylum seekers.

“Naturally, nearby residents have many worries and concerns,” he said last month.

“Has the Council signed up to the government funding scheme to facilitate the housing of asylum seekers? If so, what thought was given to the concerns of local residents?”

A number of posts on the group’s page from an account operated by Brown under an assumed name contain racist, misogynistic and transphobic language.

Brown was jailed for two months in 2019 for a “vile” racially motivated assault on a taxi driver in Co Antrim.

A judge said Brown had gone “beyond the criminal pale” during the incident, for which he was handed a two-month prison sentence.

He punched the taxi driver, originally from the Middle East, on the head, got out without paying the £18.40 fare and then chased the man’s car as he tried to phone the police.

A court was told Brown had been convicted of offences against the taxi driver around a decade beforehand.

The victim said he received a call under a different name and at first was not aware who his passenger was. After he was arrested, Brown made remarks including “Muslim c***” and “low-rent Jihadi b******”.

Deputy District Judge Peter Magill said a suspended sentence dating back to 2015 had only expired when Brown committed the latest crime.

He added: “This was a racially aggravated offence. You did admit that you expressed quite abhorrent racist views in respect of this man while denying any assault and making off.

“There is no place in our society for this type of behaviour, no place in this society for racism”.

Sunday World

Luke Skelton carried out hostile reconnaissance at Newcastle police stations after writing that he had to ‘fight’ for white people

Luke Skelton, 19, was convicted of preparing an act of terrorism
(Counter Terrorism Policing North-East)

Luke Skelton, now 19, carried out hostile reconnaissance and wrote a manifesto and “final note” to spread his message after the attack.

He denied preparing acts of terrorism in the year leading up to his arrest in October 2021, but was convicted by a jury at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday. His plot is among at least 37 foiled in Britain since March 2017, of which over a third were extreme right-wing.

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, the head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said Skelton was not just a teenager with strong views “but a terrorist who wanted to cause serious harm”.

“The defendant’s anger towards society, together with his extreme right-wing views, created a dangerous foundation from which his sinister plans were ultimately built,” he added.

“He was strongly motivated by this mindset, which continued to fuel his actions and his later offending, despite repeated attempts to draw him away from it.”

The former student, who is autistic, told jurors his writings were “fantasia” and that he did not want to harm anybody.

But prosecutors said he held racist, sexist, Islamophobic and antisemitic views, “lionised” far-right terror attacks around the world and saw violence as a way to achieve his political objectives.

In his final note, Skelton wrote that he aimed to “accelerate the coming collapse and racial war” in Britain, when people would die “in the thousands”.

It was drafted in January 2021, months after staff at his school had reported him to the government’s Prevent counter-terrorism scheme.

Prosecutor Nicholas de la Poer QC told jurors that teachers at Gateshead College “became concerned” during the first term of his second year, when Skelton was 17.

A referral was made to Prevent in November 2020, but Skelton did not have his first meeting with an “intervention provider” until the following March.

Mr de la Poer said that in the intervening time, the teenager viewed online material “consistent with ideas of white supremacy and fascism”, researched the manufacture of dynamite and wrote the “final note”.

On 8 March 2021, he wrote: “I simply could not bear to look upon my descendants having known I did nothing as to give them an actual homeland or not to fight.”

The teenager attended the first of eight sessions with a Prevent intervention provider 10 days later, and the court heard that he withdrew from the programme in May 2021.

He continued extremist activity during the period, including downloading a video featuring Adolf Hitler, researching how to make napalm and recording himself making a speech about a coming race war.

Jurors were shown messages written by the defendant on Discord under the name “Adolf Hitler” the following summer, where he called non-whites “backward and savage”, and referred to “subhumans”.

Skelton was arrested on 12 June 2021 on suspicion of possessing documents useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism, but no action was taken.

He wrote on Discord that he was “angry” at himself for not “doing anything” before being arrested, adding: “I feel like a disgusting parasite for not doing something earlier and to become the great man of history this is what I must do just as I planned.”

Skelton continued researching explosives and suggested online that he could target a drag queen or grooming gang members.

He wrote: “F*** this f***ng bullshit I wish I had gone through with the attack and not been debating this shite I have done f*** all with my and never will do I should be f***ing dead”.

Skelton told contacts he was using an online platform to obtain the identities of grooming gang members, to “hunt down these f***ers and behead them”.

He also referred to a drag performer as a “f***ing target” and posted a link to their show.

Mr de la Poer said that his writing about grooming gangs and drag queens on Discord “may have been more for shock value or attention than anything else”, but that at the same time he was privately planning to attack police stations.

“Why he chose to focus on police stations is not a question which is answered definitively by the evidence,” the prosecutor added. “It may be the anger which the Prevent intervention and arrest had generated.”

In a previous session with his mentor, Mr Skelton said police buildings needed to be bombed in order to overthrow governments.

The court heard that the teenager was visited by Prevent officers in August 2021 and refused again to engage.

Days later, he created a new document called “The reactionary British manifesto”, which said he wanted “Britain to become again” and listed policies including restoring the British empire, ensuring “native British” people were at least 93 per cent of the population, outlawing Islam, and abolishing women’s right to vote and gay marriage.

On 10 August 2021, the teenager wrote a note on his phone entitled “brief overview of plan”, including finishing his final note and manifesto, quitting his job and “building bomb to attack police stations”.

The following month, he researched police stations in Newcastle, taking screenshots of aerial views of three premises – Byker, Etal Lane and Forth Banks.

He then carried out “hostile reconnaissance” by taking photos of Forth Banks police station and nearby CCTV cameras.

“He did so because he wanted to attack one or more police stations and he was gathering information,” Mr De La Poer said. “He was preparing for a later attack.”

The teenager was arrested for the second time on 28 October 2021 and charged with preparing acts of terrorism.

His first trial ended when a jury was unable to reach a verdict in May last year, and Skelton was convicted after a retrial on the same charge. Skelton, of Oxclose in Washington, will be sentenced on 19 June.
The Independent

A white supremacist has admitted stirring up hatred by sharing extremist content online 130 times.

Richard Osborne posted content targeting Jews and other groups 120 times on the VK social media platform, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

A further 10 posts likely to stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation were shared by the 53-year-old, the court was told.

On Friday, he also pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon.

At the hearing it was revealed that Osborne, of Marston Green, Solihull, used social media to share material likely to stir up racial hatred between 16 February last year and 9 January 2023.

From 24 September 2021 to 1 December the following year, he posted content to incite hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, the court was told.

A moving image of a flag of the banned far-right group National Action, on 4 September 2021, was also shared by the 53-year-old.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing a shotgun without a licence in Meadow Drive, Hampton-in-Arden, near Solihull, after a weapon was found in a Fiat Seicento on 12 January.

Osborne appeared via video link from HMP Wandsworth in south London.

He is due to be sentenced on 9 June.

BBC News

Vaughn Dolphin told police: ‘I’m not a terrorist, OK? I have an interest in chemicals and military memorabilia, that’s all.’ Photograph: West Midlands police/PA

A far-right extremist who experimented with explosives at home and built a crude gun has been detained for eight and a half years.

Vaughn Dolphin, 20, from Walsall, filmed himself in a gas mask surrounded by smoke after blowing up his kitchen in an attempt to mix explosives.

He was convicted last month of two charges of possessing explosives as well as several terrorism offences.

Dolphin was told he would be detained at a young offenders institution.

A sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday was told Dolphin was “a member of extreme right-wing groups holding extreme racist ideas”.

Dolphin’s trial the month before had heard that he claimed minorities “should be shot” and he had sought out extremist conversations online, engaging with chat boards.

A raid on his home uncovered a host of Nazi-related material and a “viable” gun made from a piece of aluminium tube.

He bragged about causing an “awesome fireball” in a series of selfie videos he posted to extremist chatrooms, communicating with white supremacists, jurors were told.

“Next time I’ll do this outside, but, ah well, you live and learn,” he said on one of them.

He also posted to chatrooms about creating a hand-held “cannon” and talked about mixing gunpowder.

Dolphin, from the Aldridge area of Walsall borough, additionally shared footage of terrorist incidents from around the world including a gun attack in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 people were killed by a white supremacists in May last year.

Sentencing on Thursday, Judge Melbourne Inman KC told him: “It’s an aggravating factor that you were in contact with a number of extremists” and had dealt in content featuring “an horrific recording of multiple murders”.

Paraphernalia found at Dolphin’s property “related to making items that could be used to kill or seriously injure people”, the judge added.

The offences were committed over a three-month period, the hearing was told.

Dolphin was convicted of six offences of possessing terrorist information, two of recklessly disseminating a terrorist publication, two of having an explosive substance and one of possessing a firearm without a licence.

BBC News

Teen’s ‘Pancake Recipe’ was in fact manual to make grenades and cyanide

A teenager collected manuals on how to make homemade grenades and cyanide and set up an online extremist group called “Tesco Waffen”.

Nicholas Street was aged only 16 when he created the “extreme right wing” channel on encrypted messaging platform Telegram and downloaded guides with apparently innocent names such as “Pancake Recipe”, but which were in fact instructions for the production of explosives, deadly chemicals, automatic firearms and silencers. The now 20-year-old – of Stockbridge Street in Everton – also praised the murderous actions of Brenton Tarrant, who carried out the Christchurch terrorist attacks.

Liverpool Crown Court was told today, Tuesday, that his home was raided by counter terrorism police on December 2, 2019. Street, who was described as having a “deep-rooted mindset” and “terrorist connections or motivations”, was found to have established the Telegram channel Tesco Waffen – an internet forum on which he and others with “the same mindset” shared a host of disturbing materials, including videos of the mass shootings in New Zealand.

When officers examined his laptop and phone, they discovered a seven-page document entitled “Pancake Recipe”. This was downloaded from messaging service Discord in June 2019, and gave instructions on how to make cyanide and ricin.

Another named “Poor Man’s Armourer”, which contained information on how to produce a silencer and “improvised hand grenades”, had been obtained via the internet in October of the same year and was subsequently distributed onwards by Street. A third file, “The Lightning Link”, meanwhile detailed how to manufacture a part which would enable an AR15 rifle to be converted into a fully automatic weapon.

A trial previously heard that the defendant “believed that it was only his fascist beliefs which were preventing him from taking his own life”, that there was a “white genocide taking place” and the “white race was being attacked and killed off” by a “Jewish elite who were controlling the government, media and banks”. Street was also said to believe that the Holocaust “did not happen and had been made up”.

Matthew Brook, prosecuting, told jurors that among the videos which were posted to the group was one entitled “Atom Waffen” – which featured American neo-Nazi James Mason and showed flags displaying Nazi symbols such as the swastika and the black sun. He also shared a clip of Adolf Hitler on a site called BitChute alongside the lyrics “I’m a believer”.

Street meanwhile kept a copy of Tarrant’s “manifesto”. He was said to “hold many of the same beliefs” as the terrorist, who shot and killed 51 people during attacks at two mosques in March 2019.

In one video on Tesco Waffen, the teenager praised the killer and painted him as an “extreme right wing warrior”. Street, who had a picture of the fascist leader Sir Oswald Moseley as his computer’s screensaver, posted a series of messages “calling for action” – including ones reading “tomorrow will arise another day of war”, “we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children” and “the time for talk has long since passed”.

The now “reformed Baptist”, who has no previous convictions, was seen holding his head in his hands in the dock during this morning’s hearing. Ruth Zentler-Munro, defending, told the court that her client had been diagnosed with ADHD and displayed “autistic traits” and added: “He has ceased his activity in relation to the online forum in which he was participating.”

Street was found guilty of encouraging terrorism by the jury, while he previously admitted three counts of possession of a document containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. He was handed 30 months in a young offenders’ institute, and will be required to serve at least two thirds of this term behind bars before becoming eligible for release on licence.

Sentencing, Judge David Aubrey KC said: “The common theme was of death and destruction. Much of it was abhorrent and despicable in the extreme.

“You had an obsession with extreme right wing ideologies. You are, in my judgement, a complex and challenging young man.

“There is no doubt you did have obsessive tendencies. It is of concern that you show little or no remorse or insight into your offences or the consequences.

“On the other hand, you have not committed any offence since the commission of these offences, and the court is mindful of the delay in this case. The court accepts you no longer have such interests and have now become a reformed baptist.

“Your disorders and maturity are factors in your offending, but they do not exculpate it. I am satisfied you no longer represent a risk of causing serious harm to members of the public by the commission of further offences.

“Your mindset at the time was deep-rooted. You have now, it would appear, put such obsessions behind you.”

Liverpool Echo

A far-right obsessed 15-year-old boy has admitted to filming himself assaulting three teenage girls before superimposing one video with a swastika.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, threw liquid in the faces of his victims in south-west London on May 18 and 26 last year.

He had pleaded guilty in the youth court to three charges of battery. He also admitted possessing a bomb-making manual and dissemination of a terrorist publication on the basis of recklessness.

The boy, from Isleworth, south-west London, further admitted having extreme pornography involving animals.

Today the case was brought before Mr Justice Jeremy Baker at the Old Bailey with the defendant represented but not present.

Prosecutor Paul Casey told the court that all six charges arose from an examination of the defendant’s computer.

He said: “There was a wealth of material of an extremist nature including far-right material, videos of people being subjected to harm and worse and some videos filmed by the defendant himself of him assaulting three teenage girls on two separate occasions, throwing liquid into their faces and filming himself doing so.

“The video recorded on May 18 2022 when it was recovered from his computer tower had been edited to mimic and replicate other videos of a far-right nature. There was a swastika superimposed.”

The court was also told that a psychiatric report had found the teenager suffers from psychosis.

Mr Justice Baker adjourned sentencing until May 26 at the Old Bailey.

ITV

Vaughn Dolphin, from Walsall, West Midlands, had spoken of his desire for ethnic minorities to be shot

Vaughn Dolphin told police: ‘I’m not a terrorist, OK? I have an interest in chemicals and military memorabilia, that’s all.’ Photograph: West Midlands police/PA

A far-right extremist who accidentally set off a “fireball” in his own kitchen while experimenting with explosives has been convicted of terrorism offences.

Vaughn Dolphin, who had spoken of his desire for ethnic minorities to be shot, was found guilty on a series of charges after a jury viewed videos and incriminating conversations on social media.

In one self-filmed video, he was seen in a gas mask surrounded by a choking cloud of smoke after attempting to blend a blast mixture in a saucepan on a domestic hob.

Dolphin spoke of causing an “awesome fireball” in videos posted on far-right chatrooms, in which he complained: “Ah the bastard fucking mixture set itself prematurely, oh my God. Next time I’ll do this outside, but, ah well, you live and learn.”

When arrested in June 2022 at his grandfather’s home, the 20-year-old college student told police: “I’m not a terrorist, OK? I have an interest in chemicals and military memorabilia, that’s all.”

Dolphin, from Walsall in the West Midlands, was convicted at Birmingham crown court on two charges of possession of explosives, including nitrocellulose, discovered during a raid on his home. He was also found guilty of having an unlicensed firearm that he had made from a length of aluminium tube and on terrorism charges.

An encrypted USB thumb-drive found on his bedroom shelf contained a series of DIY guides on constructing a shotgun, making homemade plastic explosives and conducting arson attacks.

The encrypted files were found in electronic folders with the name “Boogaloo”, which the prosecution claimed was a “significant” as it was used as a reference to “race war” in far-right circles.

Dolphin had also written on extremist channels on the social media platform Telegram of creating a handheld “cannon”, and about mixing gunpowder. He claimed he would do “something that would make [the Unabomber US terrorist] Ted Kaczynski blush”.

He had further ranted about his hatred of Muslims on one Telegram chatgroup and he was found to have a significant collection of material relating to the Nazis, including his own body armour in which he slid a plate bearing the symbol of the SS.

Others on the Telegram channels had warned Dolphin that he risked being arrested by the “Feds”, in what appeared to be a reference to the police. In response, Dolphin had said he would be safe as he had encrypted the incriminating material. He claimed he could argue that the explosive ingredients he had purchased were for “gardening” purposes.

Dolphin, who shrugged his shoulders while keeping his hands in his pockets as the verdicts were read out, will be sentenced on 11 May.

Ch Supt Mark Payne, the head of West Midlands counter-terrorism unit, said: “This was clearly a young man with a really dangerous mindset. I’ve got no doubt at all that his intent was to cause harm.”

The Guardian

An anti-drag campaigner who was part of a protest outside North Walsham Library against a Drag Queen Story Time has been convicted of hate crimes.

Christopher Mitchell, a welder who lives in Caister-on-Sea, has been sentenced to a 12-month community order.

He is required to carry out 20 rehabilitation days and 150 hours of unpaid work, and has been ordered to pay a fine of £1,500, Eastern Daily Press reported.

The conviction follows the 33-year-old taking part in a protest in August 2022 alongside other anti-drag activists, which saw North Walsham Library’s story time event by drag queen ‘Auntie’ Titania Trust cancelled.

Appearing at Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court on 12 April, Mitchell, who represented himself, denied sending threats, but had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of sending malicious communications.

The court heard that Mitchell revealed the real name of the drag artist, Joseph Ballard, in social media posts in which he accused him of “grooming children” – an age-old right-wing slur that is backed up by zero evidence.

Crown prosecutor Emma Pocknell shared that in a Facebook post, Mitchell had written that parents whose children were to attend the event at North Walsham Library “clearly have serious issues and should have their devices checked”.

Further evidence shared in court showed he had uploaded a YouTube video that included derogatory comments about Ballard.
Drag queen left ‘paranoid and fearful’ by anti-drag protest

Emma Pocknell noted that the posts had a “profound effect” on Joseph Ballard and were aggravated due to being considered hate crimes.

Following the protest, Pocknell shared that Ballard had been left paranoid and fearful of being targeted and required additional security when appearing in a later pantomime.

“I genuinely feared for my life and safety and others around me,” said Ballard, who claimed £9,000 compensation, including £6,000 for loss of earnings and £2,000 for extra security measures.

Titania Trust is a songstress and cabaret entertainer who has been performing for more than 10 years, according to her website.

‘Bigotry and hate is on the rise’

Joseph Ballard told PinkNews that when performing as Titania Trust, his story time is called ‘Storytime with Auntie Titania’, but clarified it isn’t part of the Drag Queen Story Hour franchise.

“It appears that bigotry and hate is on the rise,” he said.

“We have seen it with a rise in attacks upon the LGBTQ+ community and increasing transphobia in the media and politicians.

“I was targeted and used for the far-right self-claiming Nazis to forward their agenda of division and hate. They are targeting other drag artists who do similar things too.”

Ballard added: “We must stop them and do the right thing at every opportunity. We must speak out, be heard and show the goodness in the world.”

Ballard shared that has been “humbled” by the “love and support” he has received since last summer, adding that he was able to produce his own family pantomime at Christmas, which was his “first big appearance since everything”.

“The events of last summer haven’t stopped for any of us – but it’s not just at a library.

“Abuse is online and elsewhere too. I’m glad that some justice has come from this but there is so much more to do when it comes to changing attitudes and educating people.”
Anti-drag attacks surged in 2022

Drag Queen Story Hour, also known as Drag Queen Story Time, sees local drag queens visit schools and libraries to read to children, promoting inclusion and acceptance of the diversity in the world.

However, the far-right have consistently targeted the educational sessions, claiming they are “grooming children”.

In December 2022, a bar in Seattle was hit by gunfire ahead of a scheduled protest against the venue’s Drag Queen Story Hour and bingo night.

In the same month, LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD reported that there had been a horrifying 142 attacks on drag shows in the US in 2022, following repressive bills seeking to ban or restrict drag performances being proposed across seven US states.

Sadly, attacks on the drag community have continued in 2023. In March, a church in Ohio was firebombed with a Molotov cocktail ahead of its planned drag event.
‘The event became about something more than story time’

In the UK, drag artist Miss Peaches shared a “heartbreaking” statement after her story time event was cancelled due to threats of violence.

In December 2022, Miss Peaches said: “I chose to cancel because the event became about something more than a story time. It was overshadowed by a transphobic, queerphobic, bigoted hate campaign.

“I didn’t want children being faced with a mob of people holding signs. Kids being faced with a drag queen on one hand and an angry mob on the other.”

Pink News

William Lloyd-Hughes posted images of masked men clutching guns in front of Ulster Defence Association flags.

A former police detention officer who posted “racist content” and images showing apparent support of gun-wielding members of a Northern Ireland paramilitary group has been given a community order.

William Lloyd-Hughes, 27, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, was handed an 18-month community order with two requirements at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Wednesday.

He previously pleaded guilty at the same court to publishing an image of two flags on September 11 2022 “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion” that he was a “member or supporter” of the banned loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) terror group.

On Wednesday, prosecutor Gillian Curl said the image in question was a montage of four photographs, published as a tweet, depicting people in black balaclavas and military-style clothing brandishing firearms.

In two of the photos, the gunmen are posing in front of UDA flags and the montage was captioned “On God’s land where the PRODS stand”, Ms Curl added.

“Prods” is a term for a Protestant sometimes used in Northern Ireland, which in this context appeared to imply support for the proscribed paramilitary group, the court heard.

Lloyd-Hughes, who was based at Huddersfield Police Station as a civilian member of staff, also previously pleaded guilty to a charge under the Communications Act 2003 of sharing grossly offensive messages on Twitter on August 27 2022.

These “very offensive” tweets were “racist in their content and tone”, Ms Curl said.

The full details of the offence was not read out in court but the judge described the posts as “abhorrent” and “racist”.

Ms Curl added: “To Mr Lloyd-Hughes’ credit, he made a prepared statement when he was arrested and interviewed in which he immediately expressed remorse.”

Lloyd-Hughes, of Crosland Moor, told police he had limited knowledge of the history of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland and did not intend to post something that supported a banned terrorist organisation.

Lloyd Hughes, who was wearing a light blue shirt and dark tie and trousers, also told officers in December that the racist Twitter posts did not reflect his actual views, court documents show.

He “has an interest in the military” but did not realise they were UDA flags were when he posted the image, the court heard.

Lloyd-Hughes, who is degree-educated, was employed by West Yorkshire Police as a detention officer from February 2022 until he resigned in February this year after the criminal probe and an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog were launched.

The defendant, who is of previous good character, is now working in a kitchen at a local restaurant, the court heard.

Passing a concurrent community order sentence for the two offences, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring also imposed a 40-day rehabilitation requirement and said Lloyd-Hughes must complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

He must also pay a surcharge and prosecutions costs totalling £199 within seven days.

The IOPC has said the charges followed an investigation it directed, carried out by Counter Terrorism Policing North East, into the messages after a mandatory referral from the West Yorkshire force last September.

Evening Standard