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Conspiracy theorist plotted to firebomb phone, TV and radio masts because he believed Britain was ‘controlled by Israel’ and Covid vaccine was a ‘planned genocide’ – as convicted terrorist faces jail

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December 23, 2022
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Oliver Lewin, 38, planned attacks due to opposing the Tory government 
He tried to stir up a movement of individuals on the Telegram messaging site
He was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court and will be sentenced next year

A conspiracy theorist is facing jail after being found guilty of plotting terror attacks on critical national infrastructure in a bid to ‘topple the British government’.

Oliver Lewin, 38, planned a series of widespread coordinated attacks which included ‘taking out’ motorways and firebombing phone, radio and TV masts.

A court heard that he wanted to cause mass disruption to the UK’s communication systems and travel infrastructure after becoming ‘obsessed’ with the idea that the country was being controlled by ‘Jewish elites reporting directly to Israel’.

The former AV engineer was also deeply opposed to the Tory government and believed that ‘white people across Europe were being systematically killed by the vaccine’ in a ‘planned genocide’. 

Oliver Lewin, 38, of Leicestershire was found guilty of after being accused of engaging in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism

Due to believing this and that the Coronavirus had ‘triggered the emergence of a Chinese communist system’ in Britain, Lewin set about trying to destabilise the Government.

He did this by stirring up a movement of like-minded individuals via the encrypted messaging site Telegram.

In a series of messages it was claimed that he wrote: ‘We are at war people make no mistake…Peaceful marching has not and will not do anything.

‘You have to choose a better strategy.

‘I have one that I think will work but it involves staying out in the wild for a few days at a time.’       

Annabel Darlow KC, told the court: ‘In 2021 Oliver Lewin was deeply opposed to the government of the United Kingdom. Mr Lewin stated in terms that his goal was to topple the British government.

‘He believed it was dominated by Jewish elites who took orders from Israel.

‘At the same time he saw the spread of the Coronavirus across the world as triggering as what he termed as the emergence of a Chinese communist system.’

Lewin discussed targeting the M1 and M42 motorways and police later found him in possession of a manual on his laptop entitled: ‘Civilian Resistance Operation’, in which he encouraged readers to join his cause and commit attacks.

He stated: ‘For now there are several things that we can collectively do to cause significant damage to the country and send a message that we are serious in our mission.’ 

Lewin made his preparations between July and August last year. 

Undercover officers also discovered he had purchased military-style equipment and he was found with three air rifles and a rifle scope.

Officers also seized a pistol, BB gun, a walkie talkie and binoculars as well as a packed rucksack to camp overnight. 

Ms Darlow continued: ‘Mr Lewin engaged in reconnaissance of potential targets to attack, purchased equipment and tools, dug a hideout and sought other persons to commit and/or assist in committing acts of terrorism.’

Lewin, of Coalville, Leicestershire, was trialled after being accused of engaging in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

Today he was found guilty of the charge by a jury sitting at Birmingham Crown Court and will be sentenced at a later date.

The trial was told that Lewin, who previously installed and maintained radio masts, carried out meticulous research online into systems to identify weaknesses of the masts.

He also carried out on-site research during reconnaissance missions in his local area and even built a hideout so could hide from police helicopter.

One of his plots included damaging a culvert which disrupted water flow underneath the M1 motorway.

He carried out training exercises, taught himself to walk in the dark and how to avoid travelling by road at night.

Lewin, who also claimed in Telegram chats he was ex-military, was arrested on August 25 where he claimed he was only a fantasist.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands CTU, Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Payne, said after the case: ‘In interview, Lewin claimed he was a fantasist.

‘But it is clear he took the steps to carry out reconnaissance of targets to attack, bought equipment and tools, dug hide-outs and tried to recruit and train others.

‘He wanted to advance a political cause by damaging property and wiping out media organisations.

‘Extremists use this kind of ideology to create discord, distrust and fear among our communities and we strive to counter this.’

Nick Price, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, also said: ‘Oliver Lewin planned to commit a terror attack on our nation’s infrastructure by amassing a huge amount of equipment, and undertaking reconnaissance.

‘He not only was committed to the idea that violence was the only way to overthrow the government, but he also sought to persuade others to join him.

‘These beliefs are extremely dangerous, and I am pleased that a jury has found him guilty of these crimes.’

Lewin is due to be sentenced on January 20 next year.

Daily Mail

Derbyshire teenager uploaded extreme right-wing videos online

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December 1, 2022
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He also tried to use a 3D printer to make parts of a firearm

A Derbyshire teenager who uploaded extreme right-wing videos to the internet has been convicted of terrorism offences. Police said Daniel Harris, 19, expressed “toxic rhetoric” in the online material and that he tried to use a 3D printer to make gun parts.

Harris was arrested earlier this year following an investigation by specialist officers from the Counter Terror Policing East Midlands team. Today (Wednesday, November 30), following a trial at Manchester Crown Court, Harris, of Lord Street in Glossop, was found guilty of six offences.

The jury found him guilty of five counts of encouraging terrorism, relating to his creation and uploading of material to the internet between February 2021 and March 2022. They also found him guilty of one count of possession of material for terrorist purposes – this related to the possession of a 3D printer, which he had tried to use to make parts of a firearm.

He was found not guilty of a single count of encouraging terrorism. Harris was remanded in custody until January 16, when he is due to be sentenced at the same court.

Detective Inspector Chris Brett said: “Due to his age and previous offending, we initially attempted to engage with Harris through the Prevent programme, but it soon became clear he was pretending to be deradicalized whilst encouraging terrorism online. The threat he caused meant we had to act in order to ensure the safety of the wider public.

“I’d like to thank our team of dedicated and skilled colleagues involved in this complex investigation into an individual who, in the videos that he produced, clearly demonstrated a distain for law enforcement and public order, as well as an admiration for those who had committed atrocities in terrorist attacks overseas. By posting these videos online, Harris’ toxic rhetoric could have had untold influence on countless people across the world.

“Such actions will not be tolerated. In a search of Harris’ house, the rather chilling discovery of attempts to make component parts of a firearm printed from his 3D printer, showed a clear intent to create a deadly weapon.”

Derby Telegraph

Oxfordshire man, 18, pleads guilty to terrorism offences after uploading Neo-Nazi videos to the internet

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July 16, 2022
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He possessed videos which ‘glorify terrorism and which promote white supremacy throughout’

An 18-year-old Oxfordshire man has pleaded guilty to Extreme Right Wing Terrorism offences. Oliver Riley pleaded guilty to a number of charges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE).

Riley was arrested in October last year in Gloucestershire. He had uploaded several videos of a ‘neo-Nazi racist nature’ to the internet which breached UK Terrorism Act legislation.

He pleaded guilty to the following offences on Monday, July 11:

Three counts of possession of a document or record containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Providing a service to others that enables them to obtain, read, listen to or look at such a publication and intended, or was reckless, as to whether an effect of his conduct would be a direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

Sending by means of a public electronic communications network a message that was grossly offensive contrary to Section 127 of the Communication Act 2003.

Riley, of The Meadows, Watlington, was released on bail. He will be sentenced at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, on August 19.

Head of CTPSE Detective Chief Superintendent Oliver Wright said: “Riley has recognised that he committed these offences by being in possession of videos which glorify terrorism and which promote white supremacy throughout. Some of the harmful content Riley had promotes the separation of races by violent means, along with some particularly hateful content being directed at the LGBTQ+ community. These are serious offences and I am glad that he at least acknowledged these offences by pleading guilty.”

Oxfordshire Live

Sheffield judge jails ‘extremist’ group who advocated racist violence and manufacture of weapons

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June 23, 2022
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Four people, who advocated racist violence and the manufacture and possession of weapons, have been jailed for a combined total of over 30 years, following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Mr Justice Spencer jailed Daniel Wright, Liam Hall, Stacey Salmon and Samuel Whibley for a combined total of 31 years during a sentencing hearing held Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday, June 23, after jurors found them guilty of a combined total of 18 offences following an 11-week trial at the court.

The jury heard how the defendants, whose offending was exposed by an undercover officer, came together in a private online chat group to share extreme right-wing views and propaganda, influence and indoctrinate others and endorse the use of violence to further their cause.

Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North East arrested the group in May last year, and a spokesperson for the policing team described how ‘a partially constructed 3D printed firearm was recovered from the home of Hall and Salmon in Keighley, West Yorkshire.

Liam Hall, Stacey Salmon, Daniel Wright and Samuel Whibley were jailed for a combined total of 31 years, during a sentencing hearing held at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday, June 23

The spokesperson added: “Examination by a specialist confirmed that despite being incomplete, the weapon could have proved lethal if fully assembled. Other weapons were also recovered from the homes of the defendants, in addition to chemicals, practical guides for making explosives and extreme right-wing texts and videos.”

The four defendants were jailed for a combined total of 31 years, with Wright, 30, of Whinfield Avenue, Keighley, West Yorkshire, given a 12-year custodial sentence and upon release will be subject to a Serious Crime Prevention Order and a 30-year Part 4 Notification Order. He was found guilty of seven offences including manufacturing a firearm.

Hall, 31, of Hill Top Walk, Keighley, West Yorkshire, was found guilty of an offence of manufacturing a firearm and possessing a firearm and was sentenced to a 6-year custodial sentence. He will also be subject to a Serious Crime Prevention Order upon release.

Salmon, 31, of Hill Top Walk, Keighley, West Yorkshire, was found guilty of an offence of possessing a firearm and was sentenced to a three-year custodial sentence.

Samuel Whibley, 30, of Derwen Deg, Menai Bridge, Isle of Anglesey, was found guilty of eight terrorism offences including the encouragement of terrorism and the dissemination of a terrorist publication encouraging terrorism. He was sentenced to a 10-year custodial sentence and upon release will be subject to a Serious Crime Prevention Order and a 30-year Part 4 Notification Order.

Speaking after the sentencing, Temporary Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Craig, the Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “Today’s outcome highlights the seriousness of the offences committed by these individuals and the verdict reached by the Jury in March.

“We work tirelessly to identify individuals who have an extremist mindset and threaten the safety and unity of our diverse communities.

“Anyone found to be engaging in terrorist activity, or violent extremism in any form, can expect to be identified and put before the courts.”

If anyone sees or hears something that doesn’t seem right, online or in the real word, they are encouraged to trust their instincts and ACT by reporting it to police in confidence at gov.uk/ACT. In an emergency, always dial 999.

Sheffield Star

‘Neo-Nazi’ jailed for threatening to bomb NHS hospital at height of pandemic

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February 27, 2021
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Emil Apreda also threatened to bomb Black Lives Matter protesters and MPs if £10m not paid, investigators say

A man who posed as a neo-Nazi has been jailed for threatening to bomb an NHS hospital at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Emil Apreda, a 33-year-old Italian man living in Berlin, threatened to place an explosive device in an unspecified English hospital unless he was paid £10m in Bitcoin.

His message purported to be from the neo-Nazi group Combat 18, but investigators said he used it as a “front for his extortion” and that he did not have access to a bomb.

Apreda emailed his threat to the NHS on 25 April 2020, but sent the same message to the National Crime Agency (NCA) control centre hours later.

Officials said they did not publicise the incident over fears that people would not seek hospital treatment because of safety concerns, and that Covid patients on ventilators would die if evacuated.

Tim Court, the head of investigations in the NCA’s cyber crime unit, said the threats were not known outside a “very tight circle” of people, including senior counter-terror police officers.

“Any loss of life was not acceptable to us – a lot was done, not a lot was known,” he said.

“This was one of the most significant threats we’ve seen in quite some time to UK infrastructure. At the height of this we were losing nearly 1,000 [Covid victims] a day and for six weeks we were trying to manage somebody who could have been planting a bomb in a hospital somewhere in the UK.”

Mr Court said concern about a potential bomb was heightened by the increased use of oxygen inside hospitals. Potential targets were “hardened” in response to the threat, he added.

Nigel Leary, who led the NCA operation, said the threat then evolved over the following weeks.

“Our offender paid close attention to other world events that were going on at the time to try to increase our perception of that threat and elicit the response they were after,” he told a press conference.

“After the death of George Floyd, they changed the modus operandi and threatened to place a bomb at a protest in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign.”

Then ahead of the anniversary of the assassination of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was killed by a neo-Nazi in June 2016, Apreda started threatening MPs.

On Friday, he was convicted of attempted extortion following a trial that started in December at Berlin’s Tiergarten District Court and jailed for three years.

Apreda was released on bail until the ruling is ratified, because under German law the verdict is not immediately binding and can be appealed within a week.

Investigators said Apreda, who previously worked in computing and privacy, was “confident” that he could hide his identity by using the dark web, encryption and other tools.

But analysis, including behavioural and linguistic science, narrowed down his location to several potential countries, whose investigative services were contacted, and Apreda was identified.

Armed police raided his Berlin flat and arrested him on 15 June, seizing electronic devices used for the scheme.

The NCA said that although Apreda was an Italian national, he was born in Berlin and there was “no realistic” prospect of him being extradited to the UK for trial.

The agency shared its material with German authorities, who also carried out their own investigation.

Mr Court said the investigation had not uncovered a link to the UK and that the NHS was believed to have been targeted because of its vulnerability at the time, rather than because Apreda had “an axe to grind”.

He said there was also no evidence of a true affinity with the far right, and the NCA believed the ideology was used in communications as an “attempt to utilise and leverage the fear that would engender”.

“This was serious crime, attempted extortion and using social engineering to make the risk seem more significant to try to get the response he wanted,” Mr Court added.

But he said that if the case had been tried in the UK, Apreda may have been charged with terror offences because of the nature and effect of his threats.

Lisa Jani, a spokesperson for the Berlin criminal courts, said British authorities appeared via video-link to give evidence at the trial and confirmed that no payment was made.

She said Apreda had been freed on bail and must report to police twice a week until the judgment is finalised.

An NHS spokesperson said: “The threat made during the extortion demand significantly added to the pressures on the NHS during the covid pandemic and meant senior leaders and emergency response staff were called on to direct the NHS aspects of the response to this threat.

“The threat and demand was made at a time that hospitals were at their most vulnerable, and could have resulted in significant loss of life.”

The Independent

Terror plot: Durham teenage neo-Nazi named as Jack Reed

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January 12, 2021
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Jack Reed used an alias on a notorious neo-Nazi internet forum

The youngest person to be convicted of planning a terrorist attack in the UK can be named after a bid to keep his identity secret was rejected.
01
Jack Reed, from New Brancepeth, County Durham, was convicted in November 2019 of six neo-Nazi terror offences.

Last month, two days before his 18th birthday, he applied to retain his anonymity.

But a judge at Manchester Crown Court has now ruled he had no power to make such an order.

‘Natural sadist’

Reed is currently serving a sentence of six years and eight months for the terrorism offences.

At Leeds Youth Court in December he was given another custodial term for unrelated child sexual offences, namely five sexual assaults against a girl.

Reed’s terrorism trial heard he was interested in “occult neo-Nazism” and had described himself as a “natural sadist”.

His preparations for an attack in Durham included researching explosives, listing potential targets and trying to obtain a bomb-making chemical.

Last year BBC Panorama identified the website’s founder and another young member who had agreed to provide Reed with the chemical ammonium nitrate.

Reed had persistently searched online in relation to rape and paedophilia and had written about wanting to commit sexual violence.

Jack Reed drew up a “hit list” of areas he wanted to attack in Durham

Reed’s anonymity was set to expire on his 18th birthday but the day before, 23 December, Judge Nicholas Dean QC granted an interim anonymity order after his legal team applied to extend the reporting restrictions.

Following submissions from the media, the judge ruled that the Crown Court has “no power.. to make the order sought”.

He said that such a power does exist in the High Court, but Reed’s barrister confirmed there was no intention to make an application there.

The power has only previously been used in five criminal cases.

In 2016 two brothers who had tortured other children in South Yorkshire were granted lifelong anonymity.

In 2019, a teenage boy from Blackburn who had admitted inciting a terrorist attack in Australia was allowed to remain anonymous.

Lifelong anonymity under new identities has also been granted after release to Mary Bell, the Newcastle child killer; Maxine Carr, who obstructed police investigating the 2002 Soham murders by her partner Ian Huntley; and Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who murdered Liverpool toddler James Bulger.

BBC News

Newcastle neo-Nazi extremist jailed for terror offences

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December 23, 2020
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A one-man neo-Nazi “propaganda machine” who encouraged racist mass murder has been jailed for a string of terror offences.

Luke Hunter, 23, from Newcastle, created extremist material and ran accounts on multiple online platforms.

Hunter, the son of a former counter-terrorism officer, was arrested in 2019 at his home address.

He was affiliated with a now-banned terrorist organisation called the Feuerkrieg Division (FKD).

Hunter, of High Callerton, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to four years and two months in prison.

Hiding behind an alias, he posted extremist material to several online platforms, including his own website, podcast, and a channel on the Telegram messaging application.

He used the accounts to promote racial hatred and murder, telling followers that the “eradication” of Jewish people was a “moral and racial duty”.

Death threat film

On the Telegram channel, which had more than 1,000 subscribers, he posted violent neo-Nazi imagery and glorified various terrorists, including the London nail bomber and the man who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The channel was affiliated with FKD, which was banned in the UK as a terrorist organisation earlier this year.

Hunter, who communicated with the group’s young leader, produced video propaganda for FKD, with one film including death threats to the chief constable of the West Midlands. The force had charged an FKD member with planning a terrorist attack.

One of Hunter’s podcast guests was Alex Davies, co-founder of the banned extreme right-wing group National Action.

But Hunter was not only active online and travelled to Glasgow to deliver a speech at a far-right conference.

In October last year detectives searching the house where he lived with his mother found a large hunting knife and a life-size dummy covered in stab marks, prosecutors said.

‘Promoted killing techniques’

A preliminary court hearing heard Hunter’s father, with whom he did not live at the time of his arrest, spent years as a Metropolitan Police counter terrorism officer before transferring to a civilian role.

Hunter pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of encouraging terrorism and three of disseminating terrorist publications.

The prosecution argued that Hunter, who has been diagnosed with autism, was “deeply radicalised” and that his activity “smacks of a propaganda machine which has been designed to function over a number of platforms”.

Hunter admitted four counts of encouraging terrorism and three of disseminating terrorist publications

Det Ch Supt Martin Snowden, head of counter terrorism policing north east, said that Hunter’s online activity “glorified terrorism, promoted killing techniques and encouraged the killing of Jews, non-white races and homosexuals.”

He added: “Luke Hunter represents a threat to our society, not simply because of his mindset, but because of the considerable lengths he was prepared to go to in order to recruit and enable others in support of his cause”.

BBC News

Neo-Nazi who planned terror attacks given new jail sentence for child sex offences

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December 23, 2020
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Boy, 17, convicted of five sexual assaults against a younger girl

One of the sketches made by the teenager
(Counter Terrorism Policing North East)

A teenage neo-Nazi who was jailed for planning terror attacks has been given a new sentence for child sex offences.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of five counts of sexually touching a girl under the age of 13.

He was given an 18-month detention and training order for the assaults at Leeds Youth Court on Wednesday.

District Judge Richard Kitson said the term could be served concurrently to his previous sentence of six years and eight months for preparing acts of terrorism.

“The offences [against the girl] are wholly different to those that have resulted in your current sentence and, in theory, consecutive sentences would be justified,” he told the defendant. “I think that would be inappropriate in view of the extended sentence which you are currently serving.”

The defendant is due to turn 18 this month, meaning the ban on identifying him would expire automatically, but his lawyers have applied to extend the reporting restriction.

At a separate hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Nicholas Dean QC granted an extension until a hearing where the arguments can be considered in full on 11 January.

The boy had detailed plans to firebomb synagogues and other buildings in the Durham area as part of what he believed was an upcoming “race war”.

Before being arrested, he wrote that his upcoming 12 weeks of study leave would be “showtime”.

He was convicted of six terror offences, including preparing acts of terrorism, disseminating terrorist publications and possessing material for terrorist purposes.

A court heard that he had been “tipped off” by a fellow extremist on the Fascist Forge forum that a police raid was imminent and deleted evidence as a result, but police could not corroborate that claim.

When he was arrested in March 2019, police found a piece of paper in his pocket containing a message in code that said: “Killing is probably easier than your paranoid mind thinks. You’re just not used to it.”

The boy was carrying a drawing of a fellow school pupil being beheaded, because he believed he was gay and deserved “judgement”.

After reading Norway shooter Anders Breivik’s manifesto, he had written his own version entitled: “Storm 88: A manual for practical sensible guerrilla warfare against the k**e [offensive term for a Jewish person] system in Durham city area, sieg hiel.”

It called for lone-wolf terror attacks to fight against a supposed “genocide” of white people and listed proposed attack targets in Durham, including schools, public transport and council buildings.

Writing on the Fascist Forge forum, the teenager claimed a race war was “inevitable”, and called himself an “accelerationist”.

Prosecutors said they had not identified a “particular act or acts” of terrorism that the boy was going to commit, but that he had been preparing for some kind of atrocity since October 2017.

He denied all offences, claiming he had adopted the terrorist persona for “shock value” and did not want to carry out attacks, but was convicted unanimously of all charges in November 2019.

The court heard that the boy had been an “adherent of a right-wing ideology” since the age of 13, and that his views became more extreme as he immersed himself in fascist websites and forums.

By 2017, he was describing himself as a neo-Nazi and operated a since-deleted Twitter account with a handle referring to a British fascist leader.

His racist and homophobic tweets drew the attention of police but when he was interviewed in September that year, he claimed they were posted “for a laugh”.

The teenager initially agreed to take part in the Prevent counter-radicalisation programme but later stopped engaging.

The boy claimed he was not an extremist, but started another Twitter account and continued communicating with contacts, while accessing a “large quantity of extreme right-wing literature” online and in hard copy.

The court heard he had steeped himself in antisemitic conspiracy theories and ranted about Jewish governors at his school, Jewish MPs and the press.

In August 2018, he described himself as a “radical national socialist” and follower of Adolf Hitler, saying he had read Mein Kampf and had a photo of the Nazi leader on his phone.

Prosecutors said the boy obtained and shared terror manuals on making explosives and firearms on the Ironmarch and Fascist Forge online forums, but also drew on jihadi propaganda.

He had searched for Isis execution videos and used al-Qaeda literature, as well as a jihadi guide on making deadly poisons, including ricin.

By November 2018, he had progressed to extreme occult neo-Nazism and voiced support for satanism.

The teenager declared his support for the “siege” ideology, which was started by an American neo-Nazi and advocates the use of terror attacks to trigger a race war.

“Democracy is very much a dead system; political violence therefore, can only help us,” he wrote. “The white race is being silently genocided, the west is dying.”

Sentencing him for the terror offences earlier this year, the previous Recorder of Manchester, Judge David Stockdale QC, found the teenager’s subsequently diagnosed autism spectrum disorder played a part in his offending.

He described the youth as “highly intelligent, widely read, quick-thinking and articulate” but told him that it was “a matter of infinite regret that you pursued at such a young age a twisted and – many would say – a sick ideological path”.

The Independent

Rugby teenager Paul Dunleavy jailed for terror offences

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November 6, 2020
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Paul Dunleavy was jailed for five years and six months, after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court

A teenager who was part of a banned neo-Nazi group has been jailed for preparing acts of terrorism.

A judge ruled 17-year-old Paul Dunleavy can be named but described his efforts to commit the act as “inept”.

Dunleavy had admitted nine counts of possessing 9 terror manuals and also had videos of the New Zealand terror attack in 2019, in which 51 people died.

At Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Paul Farrer QC jailed the defendant for five years and six months.

Dunleavy, who had denied preparing an attack, had joined a neo-Nazi group called Feuerkrieg Division (FKD) in July last year, the court was told.

The group was created by a 13-year-old Estonian and was outlawed in the UK this summer after being linked to terrorism cases around the world.

Notepads made by the teenager and a gun were recovered from his room

Judge Farrer said Dunleavy had offered practical advice on firearms to other FKD members, some of whom have gone on themselves to be convicted of terrorism offences in other countries.

The judge told the defendant he harboured an intention to commit an act of terrorism, but added it was unlikely the he would have followed through, describing his preparations as “inept”.

He added: “Your autism impacts on your maturity and understanding.”

Dunleavy had an “unhealthy interest in other attacks across the world”, police said

Prosecutors said FKD’s aim was to overthrow the liberal democratic system by bringing about a race war through individuals carrying out acts of mass murder.

After joining FKD’s online chat group, Dunleavy unwittingly began communicating with an undercover police officer, telling him: “I’m getting armed and getting in shape.”

The court was told Dunleavy had researched how to convert a blank-firing gun and asked an adult friend for advice on where to buy one.

Following his arrest at his home in September 2019, West Midlands Police said detectives seized his phone, finding over 90 documents on firearms, explosives and military tactics, right wing material and online chat conversations.

They also found several knives, air rifles, face coverings, camouflage face paint, shotgun cartridges and bullet casings.

Dunleavy had named Adolf Hitler as one of his heroes, West Midlands Police said

“This boy had an unhealthy interest in other attacks across the world and he knew exactly what online platforms to join to share his extreme views,” said Det Ch Supt Kenny Bell, head of West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit.

“He believed he had the skills to convert a blank firing weapon into a viable firearm and was willing to help others with his abilities.”

BBC News

Harry Vaughan: Neo-Nazi teenager sentenced

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November 2, 2020
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A high-achieving grammar school pupil who secretly promoted neo-Nazi terrorism online has been sentenced.

Harry Vaughan, 18, from south-west London, had pleaded guilty to 14 terror offences and two of possessing indecent images of children.

Passing sentence at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Sweeney said: “You are a dangerous offender.”

He sentenced Vaughan to two years detention in a young offenders’ institution, suspended for two years.

The 18-year-old was also ordered to attend a rehabilitation programme.

The judge said Vaughan had lived at home with his family and been an “A* student”, adding none of them knew that from the age of 14 he had been involved with groups on the internet.

Vaughan’s father, who was in court, is a clerk in the House of Lords and his mother is a teacher. Vaughan had been a pupil at Tiffin Grammar School in Kingston upon Thames.

The judge told the teenager neo-Nazi material found during police searches showed “the depth of your extreme right-wing mindset”.

He added that expert evidence stated Vaughan’s ideology was a “hybrid” of neo-Nazism and left-hand path Satanism.

Vaughan was prolific online and hid behind a series of aliases.

He uploaded self-made propaganda images to a neo-Nazi website promoting the now-banned terrorist organisation Sonnenkrieg Division.

He also possessed – and posted online – a series of weapons and explosives manuals.

The 18-year-old previously pleaded guilty to 12 counts of possessing documents useful to a terrorist, one count of encouraging terrorism, and one of disseminating terrorist publications.

He also admitted two counts of possessing indecent images, relating to videos showing young boys being raped.

Commander Richard Smith, head of the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command, said: “What this case tells us is that anybody can be affected, anybody can be radicalised.”

He said Vaughan is a “very intelligent young man” but he “now has convictions for terrorist offences which will stay with him for life and I think that is a saddening case and also a salutary example of how this can affect young people”.

BBC News