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Nazi jailed for hate campaign involving Taylor Swift and Sadiq Khan

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December 14, 2019
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White supremacist Michael O’Neill, aged 61, made jibes at everyone from Taylor Swift to Sadiq Khan

Michael O'Neill made a racist claim about singer Taylor Swift and a black child

Michael O’Neill made a racist claim about singer Taylor Swift and a black child

A Nazi has been jailed for a campaign of race hate on social media which included jibes at everyone from London mayor Sadiq Khan to pop superstar Taylor Swift.

White supremacist Michael O’Neill, aged 61, was arrested after an investigation by counter-terrorism police watching far-right groups.

He spent three years using Facebook and Twitter to spread racial abuse.

O’Neill was continually blocked by the social media giants for posting offensive material, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

But he created accounts under slightly different names so he could go on spouting filth.

He posted a picture of Tyler Swift with her arm around a black child and claimed she could catch Down’s Syndrome.

Jailing him for two years for his racist messages, Judge James Townsend said that he needed to pass a sentence to deter others.

He told the defendant the posts went on for a prolonged period of nearly three years and were available for all to see.

Police said after the case that the sentence should deter others from posting extreme views.

O’Neill, of Redhill Close, Ernesettle, pleaded not guilty to eight counts of distributing written material on social media likely to stir up racial hatred.

But he was found guilty after a four-day trial last month.

The jury saw more than 100 bizarre and offensive Facebook posts and tweets from between 2015 and 2018.

Simon Burns, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said among the more worrying posts was a suggestion that black Labour front bencher Diane Abbott “needed dispatching”.

O’Neill, with links to the National Front and Combat 18, also said Mr Khan should ‘f*** off and die’.

The barrister also reminded the judge that O’Neill said Pakistani Muslims should be “wiped out”.

O’Neill told a court that a tattoo of the number 1488 – linked to Hitler – was nothing to do with Nazis and was just a reminder of his PIN.

O’Neill said that he had the ink done years ago because he kept forgetting the number.

He also briefly sang the anthem “Flower of Scotland” from the witness stand during his trial.

Rupert Taylor, for O’Neill, said his client had “learnt his lesson”.

He added that the defendant no longer posted messages on social media or associated with far-right racists.

Mr Taylor said O’Neill drank heavily, was socially isolated and in poor health.

He added: “He has had the good sense to mend his ways. He is anxious to accept assistance and that is something that could be done in the community.

“It is really a plea for mercy for him to live quietly with restrictions.”

Mr Taylor said that his comments did not provoke actual violence or drive anyone to radical views.

Det Sgt Steve Foale from Counter Terrorism Police South West said after the case that the unit started examining O’Neill’s online activity early in 2018.

He added that when police searched his home in July that year, they found books, flags and music linked to the far-right.

DS Foale said: “His mindset combined with his aspiration for others to commit violence towards vulnerable members of our communities cannot be underestimated and could not go unprosecuted.

“O’Neill had at least eight Twitter and Facebook accounts attributed to him from which he continually posted a large amount of offensive extreme far-right material.

Chief Inspector Rob Mooney added: “The sentencing today of Michael O’Neill will send a positive message to the people of Plymouth that Devon and Cornwall Police and our partners will not accept any extremist ideology.

“Residents in our community must be protected from anyone that displays these abhorrent and bigoted behaviours.

“This court result shows that we take reports of this nature very seriously and urge our communities to carry on reporting such activity to police.

“If you have any information about suspicious activity or behaviour please contact Counter Terrorism Police in confidence. You can report a potential terrorist threat via our secure online form at gov.uk/ACT or call us on 0800 789 321.”

Plymouth Herald

Nazi made bizarre racist jibe about Taylor Swift during hate campaign

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November 16, 2019
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Nasty Michael O’Neill, aged 61, had ‘Hitler number’ tattoo but claimed it was his PIN

Michael O'Neill made a racist claim about singer Taylor Swift and a black child (Image: Plymouth Live/Mirror)

Michael O’Neill made a racist claim about singer Taylor Swift and a black child (Image: Plymouth Live/Mirror)

A Nazi made a bizarre racist jibe about Taylor Swift and a black child during a hate campaign on Facebook and Twitter.

White supremacist Michael O’Neill, aged 61, posted a picture of the pop star with her arm around the youngster and claimed she could catch Down’s Syndrome.

O’Neill told a court that a tattoo of the number 1488 – linked to Hitler – was nothing to do with Nazis and was just a reminder of his PIN.

He also briefly sang the anthem “Flower of Scotland” from the witness stand during his trial.

The jury saw more than 100 bizarre and offensive Facebook posts and tweets from between 2015 and 2018 at Plymouth Crown Court.

O’Neill, of Redhill Close, Ernesettle, pleaded not guilty to eight counts of distributing written material on social media likely to stir up racial hatred.

He also denied two similar counts of incitement to religious hatred.

O’Neill was convicted by unanimous verdicts after a four-day trial on all the racial counts but cleared on the two religious counts.

Judge James Townsend released him on bail to be sentenced on December 13 with the aid of a probation report.

But he warned: “All options are open. Given his record of racially-aggravated matters, the starting point is an immediate prison sentence.”

The court heard that O’Neill was continually blocked by the social media giants for posting offensive material.

But he created five Facebook and three Twitter accounts under slightly different names so he could go on spouting filth.

He posted a picture of Taylor Swift with her arm around a black child. It included a close-up image of her hand on shoulder.

O’Neill commented: “Don’t touch the little blacky, you might get Down’s Syndrome.”

O’Neill admitted posting a picture of an axe-wielding Viking, but struggled to explain why he had attached the slogan: “It is time to rise up and cleanse our lands”.

O’Neill, who grew up in Birmingham, also posted a message about Pakistani Muslims.

He added: “The entire tribe needs eradicating, wiped off the face of the Earth like wiping s**t off your shoe.”

O’Neill took to the stand to deny that he had a tattoo of the Nazi slogan 1488 – insisting it was his PIN.

He said that he had the ink done years ago because he kept forgetting the number.

O’Neill said he did not know of its significance in far-right ideology until he joined Facebook four years ago.

The ‘Fourteen words’ represent a white supremacist slogan while 88 refers to the position of the letters HH in the alphabet – standing for Heil Hitler.

He said: “I thought it was the date of a battle, like 1066.”

Unbelievably O’Neill sought to explain away twin SS lightning bolts tattooed on his chest, saying they were Norse symbols. He added he was awaiting for a third bolt to be added.

O’Neill had a particular dislike for the London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim.

He added that he had been involved in a spat on Twitter, saying the Labour politician had called him “every name under the sun.”

But O’Neill posted a story about Mr Khan linking him with rising crime rates.

He added the slogan: “Fetch the petrol.”

O’Neill admitted: “I should not have written it.”

He claimed a mixture of poor memory, ignorance, being drunk and having a dark sense of humour were behind many of his posts.

The defendant admitted he became angry as a former fisherman confined to his home by injury.

O’Neill compared his humour with the edgy satire of Jo Brand – who once called on people to attack Boris Johnson with acid rather than milkshakes.

Seeking to explain why he had posted a message which seems to celebrate a news story of a Scottish man attacking an immigrant, he started to sing the patriotic song “Flower of Scotland”.

He denied inciting anyone to take up violence against racist or religious groups.

Prosecuting barrister Simon Burns put it to him that the books in the house showed that he was well-read rather than naive.

O’Neill replied: “Being well-read does not make you a Nazi, in the same way as voting for Brexit does not make you a Nazi.”

He added that he was not a member of any particular group, but had described himself as a “National Socialist”, which is where the German abbreviation of Nazi originates.

Plymouth Herald

Man who posed with fake shotgun convicted of inciting hatred against Muslims

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August 30, 2019
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Jay Davison wrote ‘heil, heil, heil’ in a series of racist Instagram posts

Jay Davison admitted posting the photos but claimed he was drunk and did not mean to incite hatred ( CPS )

A man who posed with a fake shotgun and urged people to “stand up” has been convicted of stirring up religious hatred against Muslims.

Jay Davison talked about “Aryans” and wrote “heil, heil, heil” in a series of Instagram posts and comments.

A photo showed the 38-year-old posing topless holding what appeared to be a large shotgun, with the caption: “F*** Allah”.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that he shared a second photo with the fake weapon in August last year, and wrote a series of racist comments.

“Ever seen a white man cut a head off? No because they’re f***ing scum. Heil, heil, heil, heil, f*** Allah c***,” one read.

“When has an Aryan cut another man’s head off?” said another comment.

The posts were published on a private Instagram account with 394 followers, but the police were alerted after screen shots were posted to a WhatsApp group later the same day.

When Davison was arrested days later, he admitted posting the messages after an evening of drinking but claimed he was not racist and did not intend to incite racial hatred.

He said that the photos were taken at a friend’s house with an ornamental gun but he refused to name the friend.

However, prosecutors said his comments urged people to “stand up” and contained phrases associated with Nazism and white supremacy.

Davison, of Rhiwbina in Cardiff, was found guilty of stirring up racial and religious hatred on Wednesday.

Jenny Hopkins, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The material Davison posted was clearly threatening, abusive and insulting. His intention can only have been to stir up religious and racial hatred.

“His defence that he regretted his actions and was drunk was rejected by the jury.

“This is a warning to people that posting material online can have damaging consequences for them offline.”

Davison will be sentenced at a later date for one count of publishing material with intent to stir up religious hatred and two counts of publishing material with intent to stir up racial hatred.

He was found not guilty of two further counts of stirring up religious hatred.

The case comes amid heightened concern over the far-right terror threat, which has been incorporated into government assessments for the first time.

Statistics released by the Home Office showed that more than half of a record number of religiously-motivated hate crimes were directed at Muslims in 2017/18.

The number of people referred to the Prevent counter-extremism programme over suspected far-right extremism has rocketed by 36 per cent in the same period.

British security services say Isis-inspired groups and individuals pose the biggest threat to the UK, but five right-wing terror plots have been foiled since March 2017.

The Independent.

Racist woman, 79, jailed for calling for ‘new and better death camps.

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October 5, 2018
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A 79-year-old election candidate who called for ‘new and better death camps’ and likened Jews and immigrants to termites has been jailed.

Barbara Fielding-Morriss, whose manifesto praised Adolf Hitler, was given a 12-month prison sentence after a judge condemned her lack of remorse for the ‘vile’ offences.

Fielding-Morriss, who stood as a candidate in Stoke-on-Trent Central during last year’s by-election and general election, was convicted in June of three offences of stirring up racial hatred between September 2016 and February last year at Stafford Crown Court.

Passing sentence, Recorder Julian Taylor said Fielding-Morriss, who represented herself in court, had ‘not helped her cause’ by offering anti-Semitic mitigation.

he pensioner, who accused the judge of curtailing her freedom of speech, submitted three written statements to the court and in the witness box claimed she was protecting ‘my white nation’ from ‘annihilation’ by immigrants.

After saying she believed an ‘infestation’ of Jews had invaded Britain, Fielding-Morriss returned to the dock and was told she would serve six months of her one-year prison term in custody, and the remainder on licence. Recorder Taylor told Fielding-Morriss: ‘The background to this case is that you stood as a parliamentary candidate. ‘Your manifesto, which was published on a website and in a blog, contained material that formed the subject of the three counts on the indictment.

‘What I found particularly sinister during the trial was your attitude. You showed no remorse whatsoever. ‘Indeed even today, when I gave you a final opportunity to address me, you started to repeat some of the matters you put forward to the jury during your trial.’

The judge added: ‘The fact of the matter is you intended to stir up racial hatred. ‘The fact you were standing in a general election as a parliamentary candidate aggravates this case, because you were putting views forward to an electorate.’ The judge said the defendant’s age was not of itself a barrier to imprisonment, adding: ‘This matter is so serious that it crosses the custody threshold – an immediate sentence of custody is appropriate.’

Metro

‘Vile’ racist who threatened to shoot Muslims in Facebook rant jailed for 20 months

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February 19, 2018
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A “VILE” racist who posted about wanting to shoot Muslims in a Facebook rant following terror attacks in Manchester and London has been jailed for 20 months.

Drunken Andrew Littlefair, 50, called Islam a “disgusting disease” and said mosques should be burned down and Muslims should be wiped out in a series of posts over four hours.

The father-of-one said in one, published on the morning after the Borough Bridge attack in London: “Give me bullets for my gun, I will shoot every bastard one.”

He also said: “My granddad didn’t fight and die for this.”

Another read: “Go to the extreme and kill them all. Fire with fire. Dirty Muslim bastards.”

When someone complained about the messages which were free for anyone to read, he did not remove the posts, so she called the police.

Teesside Crown Court heard that did not prevent him from posting on a new account a false apology for being a “white Christian who has values for life”.

He added: “My views on this will nvr change sorry I am not!!!!”

Robert Mochrie, defending, described Littlefair as a “keyboard warrior” and said: “He doesn’t have the intelligence frankly to be able to express himself in a more careful way.”

He said the posts were “nothing more than utter stupidity, mumbling nonsense”.

However, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC disagreed, saying they were the racist postings of a vile individual.

He said the posts followed the two terror atrocities in Manchester and London which had caused outrage.

“They went to the very heart of our democracy, they were appalling events and of course they resulted in a lot of ill-feeling towards certain sections of society and a lot of emotion.

“It was a time for people to be calm in the truest traditions of this country, it did not require people like you to stir up racial hatred.”

Littlefair, of Trefoil Court, Norton, Teesside, admitted six offences of publishing threats to stir up racial hatred.

He smiled to his daughter who was in the public gallery as he was led away.

Northern Echo