Jailed for six years – the far-right supporter who set fire to buildings and daubed swastikas and racist slogans across the city

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August 21, 2018
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A FAR-right supporter who set fire to Newport’s Masonic Lodge and Bassaleg secondary school, and daubed swastikas and racist slogans on buildings across the city, has been jailed for a total of six years.

Austin Ross, 23, carried out the two arson attacks and his spree of hate-fuelled criminal damage during May this year.

The Riverfront Theatre, Maindee primary school, Gwent Probation Service’s Lower Dock Street offices, and the Bethel Community Church were among his other targets.

Ross, of Romney Close, St Julians, Newport, carried out the attacks, said Judge Jeremy Jenkins, “out of sheer hatred and malice”, based on a “perverted view of race and religion”.

Ross pleaded guilty last month to 15 charges, including two of arson.

He began by sticking a racially offensive poster,, and spray painting a swastika, on a window at the Riverfront Theatre in Newport, between May 2 and May 5.

The poster, along with several others Ross subsequently stuck to buildings in Newport, referenced the neo-Nazi System Resistance Network (SRN).

On May 4, the Bethel Community Church was targeted with posters and swastikas, as was Maindee primary school, where parents removed posters and handed them in to the school.

The school was targeted again on May 8 and May 25, but Ross had in the interim stuck posters and daubed swastikas on a wall at the Newport Centre.

Between May 25-30 he targeted the Gwent Probation Service building on Lower Dock Street with a spray painted far right message.

And on May 28, racist graffiti and a swastika were daubed on a wall at the University of South Wales campus on Usk Way.

Ross’ criminal activities then took an even more sinister turn.

On the night of May 28 he posted a flammable liquid through the letterbox at the Masonic Lodge in Lower Dock Street and set fire to it – an act caught on CCTV – causing £38,000 of damage.

And on the same night he caused around £20,000 of damage to a classroom at Bassaleg School after setting fire to a window blind.

Both buildings were also daubed with racist graffiti.

Police issued CCTV images of a man clad in black clothing, to try to track down the perpetrator.

Acting on a tip-off, they arrested Ross at an address in Grosvenor Road, Bassaleg, on June 5.

The Bassaleg and the Romney Close addresses were searched, and items found included cardboard swastika stencils and neo-Nazi posters.

Defence counsel Harry Baker said several references submitted on behalf of Ross showed “a different side” to him.

But sentencing him, Judge Jenkins was scathing of Ross’ crimes.

“You daubed swastikas and other highly offensive literature on schools, a church, a theatre, a footbridge and other buildings,” he said.

“You deliberately set fire to the Masonic Lodge and Bassaleg secondary school.

“Your actions were not born of some mental disorder, but out of hatred and malice based upon your perverted view of race and religion, and others dissimilar to yourself.

“That, in a civilised society is as abhorrent as it is impossible to comprehend.”

Ross was sentenced to three years in prison on each arson charge, to run consecutively.

He was also sentenced to six months on each of 13 charges of racially aggravated criminal damage. These will run concurrently to the arson sentences.

Speaking after the senetencing hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Nicholas Wilkie, of Gwent Police, said: “The offences committed by Ross in Newport in May of this year were very serious, and understandably resulted in concern and distress throughout our community.

“There is no place for hate crime in Gwent, and we will continue to take a zero tolerance approach to this type of offending.

“We are committed to ensuring our neighbourhoods are welcoming and safe places for everyone, and any crime motivated by racial, sexual, or any other prejudice, will be investigated thoroughly and any offender dealt with robustly.

“We would encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed an incident or crime that they perceive to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, to report to us directly on 101 or 999, online at http://www.report-it.org or through Victim Support on 0300 30 31 982.”

Cerys Beresford-Evans of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Ross spread his racist messages around Newport by causing damage and destruction to buildings.

“Hate crime has no place in a civilised society and has a devastating impact on not only individuals, but on communities.

“The CPS will continue to work with our partners in the criminal justice system to address all forms of hate crime.”

South Wales Argus

Tipu’s killer set for new jail term after claiming to be Tup Tup Palace shooter

By
August 21, 2018
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Michael McDougall.

Michael McDougall.

A killer who murdered a takeaway boss has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice after claiming to be a gunman responsible for a nightclub shooting.

Michael McDougall, 50, previously of Hylton Avenue, Marsden, South Shields and now an inmate of HMP Wakefield, has been found guilty of the charge following a trial at the Old Bailey in London.

The offence relates to a drive-by shooting outside Tup Tup Palace in Newcastle, on June 6, 2015.

A 24-year-old doorman was shot in the arm when a gunman on a motorbike opened fire using a sawn-off shotgun.

McDougall was jailed for a life sentence of 34 years in April 2016 after he was found guilty of shooting Sunderland dad-of-two Tipu Sultan.

The 32-year-old businessman had run the Herbs & Spice Kitchen takeaway in Lake Avenue, Marsden, South Shields, with his family.

McDougall was also found guilty of two charges of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

His co-accused Michael Mullen, 24, of Hawthorne Avenue, Cleadon Park, South Shields, who had taken McDougall to and from the murder scene on the back of a motorbike, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.

He was jailed for 12 years.

Just weeks after he was jailed McDougall launched an appeal against his conviction, which was denied by a judge.

Today, McDougall was found guilty of perverting the justice over a false statement made in 2017 as part of the inquiry into the Tup Tup incident.

The court heard the convicted murderer told “a pack of lies” by trying to claim he was the gunman, jurors heard.

He was jointly charged and stood trial alongside John Henry Sayers, 54, of Fossway, Walker, Newcastle, and Michael Dixon, 50, of no fixed address, who were accused of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to possess a firearm.

Sayers, a well-known hard man, has been cleared of ordering the ride-by shooting of a bouncer because his son had been thrown out of a nightclub, but has been told he still faces a prison term for perverting the course of justice.

The court heard doorman Matthew McCauley was lucky to survive the shooting, which also left two other members of staff injured.

Sayers was accused of ordering Dixon to carry out the shooting after his son was ejected from the club weeks before.

An Old Bailey jury deliberated for more than 30 hours to find Sayers and Dixon, both from Walker in Newcastle, not guilty of conspiracy to murder.

The pair gave audible sighs of relief in the dock as they were cleared of the offence.

Sayers was also acquitted of conspiring to possess a shotgun with intent to endanger life, while Dixon was found guilty by a majority of 11 to one.

Judge Mark Lucraft QC told serving prisoner Dixon he would take into account that he had already been convicted of another offence committed around the same time.

A fourth defendant – Russell Sturman, 26, from Gosforth, Newcastle – hugged his co-accused in the dock after being cleared of assisting an offender.

Before the trial started, there had been an unsuccessful application by the prosecution to try the case without a jury and it was held well away from Sayers’ home turf in the North East.

Sayers had already been cleared of ordering another murder – the doorstep shooting of a man in 2000 – and subsequently cleared of nobbling the Leeds jury in that case.

However, he is a convicted armed robber and tax-evader and said to be a name to be feared on Tyneside.

Sayers’ son had been thrown out of the trendy Tup Tup Palace and was punched by a doorman weeks earlier.

Prosecutor Simon Denison QC said Sayers had “acquired and promoted a reputation”, and he wouldn’t allow his name to be “disrespected”.

Sayers’ reputation “as a man to be feared” meant “doors are opened for his family”, he added.

“Of course, that only lasts as long as the reputation is believed to be justified – which means that if his family is disrespected, violence has to follow.”

The family was given free entry to clubs without having to queue and free access to VIP areas “just to avoid serious trouble”.

The convicted defendants were remanded into custody to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday, September 21.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “This case was thoroughly investigated by a team of dedicated detectives.

“The evidence was subjected to careful scrutiny before a decision was taken to charge and it was only right that this evidence was put in front of a jury.

“We respect the decision the jury has made.”

Sunderland Echo

Michael McDougall was convicted of murder in 2016 and details of that murder can be found here

July, August & Sept 2018

By
August 19, 2018
Uncategorized

Andrew Emery – Guilty of stirring up religious hatred.
Jailed for 2 years.

Charlie Jeans – Guilty of having an offensive weapon, racially-aggravated common assault, assault, racially-aggravated criminal damage, criminal damage and racially-aggravated causing fear of violence.
Jailed for 10 months.

Daniel Sparham – Grievous bodily harm.
Jailed for 32 months

Austin Ross – 15 counts of racially aggravated graffiti and two arson attacks.
Awaiting sentence. Due on 21/8/18

Andrew Stevenson – Actual bodily harm.
Jailed for 2 years 9 months.

Stephen Searle – A former UKIP councillor who murdered his wife.
Jailed for life with a 14 years minimum.

Christopher Lythgoe – Membership of National Action.
Matthew Hankinson – Membership of National Action.
Lythgoe jailed for 8 years and Hankinson 6 years.

Jack Coulson – National Action supporter guilty of possessing a document or record for terrorist purposes. This is his 2nd offence after building a pipe bomb when 17.
Jailed for 4 years 8 months.

Stephanie Todd – Ex UKIP councillor guilty of stealing from a 98 year old man she befriended.
Jailed for 30 months.

Thomas Wyllie – Guilty of plotting a Columbine-inspired attack at a school.
Alex Bolland – Guilty of plotting a Columbine-inspired attack at a school.
Wyllie jailed for 12 years. Bolland jailed for 10 years.

Mark Ryley – Was found guilty of abusing a girl as young as six during a four-decades-long string of sexual abuse in east London and Hertfordshire dating back to 1981.
Jailed for 14 years.

Michael Dommett – Guilty of murder.
Jailed for life. Minimum term of 16 years.

Dean Killen – Threats against Social Workers in Grimsby.
Jailed for 3 years.

Emma Storey – Tied up and tortured a Muslim man.
Lois Evans – Tied up and tortured a Muslim man.
Evans jailed for 40 months and Storey 32 months.

Jonathan Jennings – Pleaded guilty to six offences under Section One Malicious Communications Act and four offences of Inciting Racial Hatred.
Jailed for 16 months.

Daniel Lewis – A National Front organiser jailed for armed robbery. Have previous convictions for stalking and harassment.
Jailed for 4 and half years

Peter Morgan – A Scottish Defence League member caught with a bomb-making kit, far-right literature and terrorist training manuals.
Jailed for 12 years + 3 years extended supervision.

Sean Gorman – Guilty of racially aggravated attempted murder of a Syrian refugee.
Jailed for 7 years 9 months.

Michael McDougall – Currently serving 34 years for murder after being convicted in 2016. Now has an additional conviction was found guilty of perverting the justice over a false statement.
Given and extra 2 years to be served consecutively.

Austin Ross – Guilty of arson and acts of neo-Nazi related graffiti and vandalism around South Wales in relation to a National Action style group called System Resistance Network.
Jailed for 6 years.

Harley Hawkins – Found guilty of football related violent disorder.
Jailed for 12 months and 6 year football banning order.

Daniel Habberjam – Pleaded guilty to assault, criminal damage, racially aggravated threatening behaviour and breach of a criminal behaviour order.
Jailed for 10 months to go with a yeear sentence he is already serving for assault.

Stephen Bracher – Pleaded guilty to three counts of having explosive substances, one of possessing a lock knife and one of possessing amphetamines.
Jailed for 40 months.

Lee Graham Parkinson – Pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer at a far-right demo in Sunderland.
Jailed for 24 weeks in total after breaching a suspended sentence.

Stephen Dure – A self-styled “paedophile hunter”  falsely accused a man of grooming teenagers and pleaded guilty.
Jailed for 15 weeks

Michael John Vickers – Guilty of 15 separate offences, which also included spitting in a police officer’s face and a racially aggravated public order offence.
Jailed for 27 months

March, April & May 2018

By
August 18, 2018
Uncategorized

Graham Bolger – Irish ‘Nazi’ soldier who claimed he would kill Muslim children and other social media posts.
Jailed for 24 weeks.

Daniel Lang – Beat his girlfriend and was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and GBH.
Jailed for 3 years

Connor Ward – Plotted terror attacks and had a cache of weapons and a list of Mosques.
Jailed for life with a 6 year sentence until he can apply for parole. This is his 2nd conviction for explosives.

Cpl Mikko Vehvilainen Possession of a CS canister and other offences.
Jailed for 8 years

Unnamed Person – Convicted of three terrorism offences.
Jailed for 8 years

John Tomlin – Acid attack.
Jailed for 16 years.

Steven Danvers – Robbery.
Jailed for 4 years 6 months + 2 years extended license.

Jonathan West – Assault, causing actual bodily harm, and affray during a vigilante attack.
Jailed for 10 months + 5 year restraining order.

Chad Williams-Allen – Attempting to incite racial hatred
Gary Jack – Attempting to incite racial hatred.
Williams-Allen jailed for 21 months.
Gary Jack 12 months suspended for 2 years + 5 year criminal behaviour order
Two others were convicted but cannot be named. They were jailed for 16 months and 12 months.

Wayne Bell Noted member of National Action who is already serving a sentence for Violent Disorder was found guilty of two counts of stirring up racial hatred and other charges.
jailed for 4 years 3 months

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – Pleaded guilty to Contempt of Court whilst under a suspended sentence for Contempt of Court.
Jailed for 13 months in total.

Jack Renshaw – Pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism as well as making a threat to kill police officer Victoria Henderson.
Awaiting sentence but is currently serving 3 years for incitement.

Alison Chabloz – Guilty of two counts of sending an offensive, indecent or menacing message.
20 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 2 years + a social media ban and unpaid work.

Michael Sancaster – Wounding with intent and GBH.
Jailed for 40 months.

Simon Sheppard – Racist abuse. Has several previous convictions for the same thing.
Jailed for 9 months + 5 year behaviour order.

Jan, Feb & March 2018

By
August 18, 2018
Uncategorized

Christopher Gamlin – Tried to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex in a park.
Jailed for 21 months and 10 years sexual harm prevention order.

Scott Mallaburn – Affray
12 months suspended for 2 years

Jack Renshaw – Stirring up racial hatred.
Jailed for 3 years.

Brandon Russell – Possession of explosive materials. Brandon is the leader of Atomwaffen and is closely aligned with National Action.
Jailed for 5 years.

Marek Zakrocki – Britain First supporter who drove his van into a curry house.
Jailed for 33 weeks.

Joshua Ingram ABH and threatened to throw a toddler out of a window.
Jailed for 3 years. The sentence was originally suspended but converted on appeal.

Joseph Ingham – Assault.
Jailed for 10 years.

Roy Larner – The “Lion of London Bridge” guilty of racially aggravated common assault.
8 weeks suspended for 12 months.

Darren Osborne – Guilty of a terrorist attack and murder.
Jailed for 43 years.

Ethan Stables – Guilty of planning a terrorist attack.
Ended up with an indefinite hospital order which means he may never me released. If his mental health improves has can be re-sentenced.

Liam Seabrook Threatened to petrol bomb Mosques.
Jailed for 8 years

David Bitton – Pleaded guilty to sending Homophobic and anti-Semitic messages to Manchester Police.
Jailed for 4 years.

Andrew Littlefair – Posted about wanting to shoot Muslims.
Jailed for 20 months

Lukasz Poczesny – Pleaded guilty to Violent Disorder.
Igor Fiodorow – Pleaded guilty to Violent Disorder.
Marcin Lasota – Pleaded guilty to Violent Disorder.
Patryk Lesniowski – Pleaded guilty to Violent Disorder.
Mateusz Slezak – Pleaded guilty to Violent Disorder.
All sentenced to 18 months suspended for 2 years + unpaid work

Leigh McMillan – Well known member of the EDL guilty of child sex offences against a 10 year old girl.
Jailed for 17 years

Jasper Gough Guilty of Sexual Assault and ABH.
Jailed for 3 years 9 months

Paul Moore – Guilty of Attempted Murder after driving his car over a woman twice.
Jailed for minimum of 20 years.

Paul Golding – Guilty of religiously-aggravated harassment
Jayda Fransen – Guilty of religiously-aggravated harassment
Golding jailed for 18 weeks and Fransen jailed for 36 weeks.

Warren Snedden – Possession of documents containing information likely to be useful for terrorist purposes; possession of firearms and ammunition; and, production of cannabis. Police couldn’t find a motive but his facebook account is littered with anti-Muslim content.
Jailed for 10 years + 5 on license.

Leon Payne – Guilty of Affray.
Jailed for 8 months

Steven Bracher – Has extreme homophobic and racist views made bombs at his historic Devon home.
Jailed for ?????

Teenager detained for attempted murder of refugee in Edinburgh

By
August 17, 2018
Uncategorized

Sean Gorman, 18, had pleaded guilty to racially aggravated stabbing of Syrian Shabaz Ali

A teenager has been sentenced to seven years and nine months in detention for the racially aggravated attempted murder of a Syrian refugee.

Sean Gorman, 18, previously pleaded guilty to attacking Shabaz Ali, 25, a refugee. He repeatedly stabbed Ali in the chest and stomach during an argument about noise levels in a privately owned homeless hostel in Edinburgh in May.

Passing sentence at the high court in Edinburgh, the judge, Lord Woolman, told Gorman the attack had caused his victim serious physical and psychological harm.

“He cannot work. He can only take short walks with the aid of a walking stick. He awaits further surgery.”

The incident took place at a ground-floor hostel used by Edinburgh council near the Tollcross area of the city. It is thought Ali intervened in a row involving his female cousin, who was also based at the hostel, and a group of people including Gorman, who was then 17.

Gorman also pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated alarm of a woman, thought to be Ali’s cousin. Ali’s father claimed he could hear his son’s attackers shout: “Why are you still here? Why are you not back in your own country?”

The family came from Kobanî in northern Syria, and had been living in Scotland for five years. At the time of the attack, Ali was working as a barber in the Portobello area of Edinburgh and staying in a hostel as he looked for a new home.

Campaigners with Positive Action in Housing (PAIH), a Glasgow-based charity that launched a fundraising campaign for the family, said at the time of the attack that it had heard numerous reports of refugee families in Midlothian near Edinburgh suffering racist abuse and stone-throwing incidents, as well as instances in other parts of Scotland.

Following the sentencing, DCI Paul Grainger of Police Scotland said: “Gorman used appalling racist language before perpetrating significant violence against the victim, who was left fighting for his life.

“I cannot condemn the circumstances of this case strongly enough. Edinburgh thrives on diversity and Gorman’s actions do not in any way reflect the values of our city.

“Significant support has been shown across the capital for the victim and his family, which is far more representative of the strength of inclusivity across our communities.”

Issuing a statement on behalf of Ali’s father, Sivan, the solicitor Aamer Anwar said: “Shabaz’s father welcomes the significant sentence imposed today by Lord Woolman and the message sent out to violent racists like Sean Gorman.”

Describing Shabaz as “a hardworking, peaceful young man who tried to rebuild his life after Syria”, the statement also repeated allegations that, days before the attack, the victim had told Edinburgh council that he felt unsafe in his temporary accommodation “but his pleas for help were ignored”. The council has insisted it takes the safety of hostel residents “very seriously”.

The Guardian

Sentencing of Peter Morgan for terrorism offences in Edinburgh

By
August 16, 2018
Uncategorized
Peter Morgan had denied the charges

Peter Morgan had denied the charges

A man found in possession of explosive items and extreme right-wing paraphernalia at a flat in Edinburgh has been today (Thursday 16th August 2018) been jailed.

At Edinburgh High Court on Friday 13th July 2018, Peter Morgan was found guilty of two offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 and one offence under the Explosive Substances Act 1883.

Officers were conducting enquiries into the death of a teenage woman, who was found unconscious within a stairwell at a block of flats in Taylor Place in July 2017, when Morgan’s offences were discovered.

As part of officers’ enquiries into the full circumstances surrounding her death, entry was forced to the 35-year-old’s property.

During the search of the flat, officers became aware of extremist material and Police Scotland’s Organised Crime & Counter Terrorism Unit (OCCTU) were immediately called in to investigate, supported by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal.

A number of items, which could be used to construct an explosive device, were seized along with phones and computer equipment.

Following analysis of these, it was established that Morgan had been researching racist content and information on constructing explosives online.

Morgan was arrested and has been remanded in custody since this time. At Edinburgh High Court, he has now been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Detective Inspector Jackie Gilfillan from OCCTU said: “The sentence handed to Morgan reflects the serious nature of his crimes and the commitment of both Police Scotland and the Crown Office to removing extremist threats.

“While Morgan had not created any viable devices within his home, the intent to construct an object that could cause serious harm and fear within our communities was clear.

“The national Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) campaign recognises the important role the public have to play in preventing terrorism and, whenever such individuals come to our attention, a thorough investigation will be undertaken to bring them to justice.

“While on this occasion we were able to prevent any danger to the public, I’d encourage anyone with concerns about a person viewing extremist or terrorist material to report this to Police Scotland on 101 or to the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.”

Police Scotland

Right-wing extremist caught with bomb-making kit jailed

By
August 16, 2018
Uncategorized
Morgan was photographed at a white pride rally in Manchester in 2015

Morgan was photographed at a white pride rally in Manchester in 2015

A right-wing extremist caught with a bomb-making kit in his Edinburgh flat has been sentenced to 12 years in jail.

Explosive powder, fuses and a glass bottle studded with lead shot were found when police raided Peter Morgan’s home in Meadowbank last July.

During his trial a bomb disposal expert told the court the material could have been turned into an explosive device capable of causing horrific injuries.

A Nazi flag, far-right literature and terrorist training manuals were found.

Judge Lord Boyd told the 35-year-old the charges he had been convicted of threatened “the safety of the public, our values as a democracy and strike at the dignity and respect which all members of our community are entitled to expect whatever their race or religion”.

He will spend a further three years under supervision at the end of his 12-year sentence.

Lord Boyd told Morgan at the High Court in Edinburgh: “You have been convicted of two charges under the Terrorism Act and one charge under the Explosives Substances Act 1883.

“You assert your right to freedom of speech. However abhorrent some may find your views, you are entitled to hold them.

“What you are not entitled to do is to act on these views for the purpose of committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

“Of most concern is that you not only possessed the ingredients for the making of an improvised explosive device but you had begun to assemble it.”

The judge said it was clear the jury at Morgan’s earlier trial had rejected his claim during his evidence that he only planned to blow up a frozen turkey and film it for YouTube.

Lord Boyd pointed out that while Morgan had told a social worker who prepared a background report that he would never collect such material again, he did not disavow his political views.

Police also discovered that Morgan had downloaded an international application form to become “a loyal white knight of the Ku Klux Klan”.

He had amassed a collection of neo-Nazi, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic and racist material at his home.

Peter Morgan had denied the charges

Peter Morgan had denied the charges

Morgan’s trial heard that he was “quite proud” to be part of the Scottish Defence League and travelled with others from the far right group to attend a white pride rally in Manchester in 2015.

He was photographed at the march with his hood up carrying a Scottish saltire flag and holding a “white pride worldwide” poster.

Morgan had earlier denied committing offences under the Terrorism Act and Explosives Substances Act but was found guilty of three offences.

Between April 2012 and July last year at his flat in Taylor Place, in Edinburgh, he possessed items which gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that it was for a purpose “connected with the commission, preparation of instigation of an act of terrorism”.

The court heard emergency services originally attended at the block of flats where he lived on 2 July 2017 after a young woman collapsed and was found to have no pulse.

A resident said that she previously saw the woman at Morgan’s flat and police decided to force entry because of concern for others.

No one was in the flat at the time but officers noted drugs paraphernalia such as needles and scales and the premises were secured. Morgan was later seen nearby.

A large quantity of commercial fireworks were found, some of which had been taken apart.

A dagger bearing the symbol of an eagle mounted on a swastika was recovered under a sofa in the living room.

Defence solicitor advocate Brian Gilfedder said Morgan had an “atrocious” upbringing, had spent time in care homes and foster placements and began abusing drugs at the age of 11.

He told the court: “He is not shy about the political and social views that he said he legitimately holds.”

Fuses were among the things found in Morgan's possessions

Fuses were among the things found in Morgan’s possessions

BBC News

Wigan man jailed for armed raid is vile far-right leader

By
August 15, 2018
Uncategorized
Daniel Lewis at an NF demo in Wigan. Picture from Hope Not Hate


Daniel Lewis at an NF demo in Wigan. Picture from Hope Not Hate

A Wigan man jailed for threatening shop staff with a weapon is also a notorious local far-right leader, it emerged today.

Anti-extremism organisations and politicians reacted with relief to the news Daniel Lewis, of Wigan Lane, is now behind bars.

Vile social media posts highlighted online show Lewis making comments about the Holocaust which are too offensive to print, appearing at racist hate events and posing with flags bearing swastikas.

The 31-year-old, who is the Wigan leader of extreme far-right group the National Front and has links to the infamous North West Infidels, has also previously been unmasked by anti-racism campaigning organisation Hope Not Hate as a Holocaust denier.

Lewis was finally put behind bars for four and a half years last Thursday following an incident in which he and another man wore balaclavas and brandished an axe and a claw hammer as they demanded terrified staff at the Tesco store on Gidlow Lane open the tills to give them money.

Hope Not Hate today said Lewis being put in prison would be a massive relief to those in Wigan and elsewhere he has previously targeted for hatred.

The organisation’s head of research Matthew Collins said: “He is absolutely feral. He was out of control and had been for quite a while.

“It wasn’t just going out and robbing shops, he was a persistent danger to women in Wigan. He stalked and attacked Labour Party members and the police were called on a number of occasions.

“He was involved with the National Front, he was the organiser for them in Wigan and one of a number of organisers across the North West.

“He was also aligned to the North West Infidels, who have particularly made a name for themselves intimidating women.

“We are very happy that he is off the streets. We hope he takes the time to reflect on his behaviour and I’m sure he will because he is in prison.”

Wigan MP Lisa Nandy, who has herself been targeted for sickening abuse by Lewis, called for more funding to be given to crack down on the far-right’s activities.

Ms Nandy said: “The vital work that Hope Not Hate and the police do to keep the public safe from these violent individuals should be commended.

“With the police under serious strain from nearly a decade of cuts and several threats involving the far right in recent years, it is clear they need a properly resourced, national strategy to help them in this crucial work.”

As news broke of Lewis’ jail sentence further details about his trail of appalling comments and actions came to light once more.

That included calling for violent actions against gay people, carrying out acts of harassment against people in Wigan and involvement in campaigns making horrific threats towards asylum seekers and refugees.

Hope Not Hate also previously reported on disgusting Facebook comments and photographs on Lewis’ account showing him smirking at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp while the accompanying comments mocked Holocaust victims and denied the genocide.

Photographs were shared of Lewis playing a prominent role in a National Front demo in Wigan town centre in 2015 in which extremists, some of them giving Nazi salutes, clashed with a large counter-protest and police.

The NF attempted to hold a similar anti-immigration event in the borough in 2016 but it was called off at the last minute.

The law caught up with Lewis following the violent incident on May 10 this year, in which he and his co-offender emptied large amounts of cash, alcohol and cigarettes before driving off.

Responding to last week’s sentencing, Detective Sergeant Nigel Rigby of GMP’s Wigan borough said: “These men didn’t just demand money, they held an axe to an innocent woman’s throat as they made their threats.

“They caused immense fear and I am grateful we were able to get them in custody 24 hours after the terrifying ordeal.”

Wigan Today

Aryan Strikeforce vice president pleads guilty to weapons charge

By
August 12, 2018
Uncategorized

The vice president of the Aryan Strikeforce has become the fourth member of the white nationalist organization to plead guilty to a role in a scheme to transport weapons and drugs across state lines.

Steven D. Davis, 46, of Bumpass, Va., Friday entered his plea in U.S. Middle District Court to a charge of possession of firearms by a convicted felon. He remains detained pending sentencing.

He admitted in early October 2016 he traveled from Virginia to Potter County with a shotgun and a 9mm pistol and gave them to another strikeforce member who had served 10 years for aggravated assault.

Strikeforce members met in Potter County in September and October of that year, Assistant U.S. Attorney George J. Rocktashel said.

The three who previously pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge are Joshua Michael Steever, of Manville, N.J., Connor Drew Dikes of Silver Spring, Md., and Henry Lambert David of the Allentown area. None of them has been sentenced.

They admitted taking part in planning meetings in the Harrisburg area with undercover FBI employees and in 2017 participating in the transportation of imitation crystal methamphetamine and machine gun parts from Pennsylvania to Maryland.

As he has done at previous court proceedings involving strikeforce members, Rocktashel cited the organization’s stated mission “to protect the honor of our women, children and the future of our race and nation” using violence as a necessary tool.

Of the six indicted, only Jacob Marks Robards of Bethlehem and Justin Daniel Lough of Waynesboro, Va., are awaiting trial.

Lough is fighting his indictment accusing the government of outrageous conduct by conceiving, planning and directing the scheme. Rocktashel alleges Lough was a willing participant.

Penn Live