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Cheshire teen locked up for terrorism offences described himself as ‘literal Nazi’

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June 3, 2022
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A Cheshire teenager who downloaded terrorist documents and posted vile racism online described himself as a ‘literal Nazi’. Right-wing extremist Mason Yates, 19, was referred to the counter-terrorism strategy Prevent when he was just 13 – and now he has been locked up for 30 months.

Police found copies of ‘100 Deadly Skills’, which provides instructions on knife attacks and making explosive devices, and the ‘White Resistance Manual’, giving directions on how to carry out ‘mass murder’ in advance of a ‘race war’, on his phone, the Manchester Evening News reports.

Yates, of Elstreet Court, Widnes, developed an ‘unsavoury obsession’ with right wing politics, Manchester Crown Court heard. His lawyer said Yates, who also displayed an interest in the murderer behind mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, spent hours on his computer and became ‘even more isolated’ during the pandemic.

Yates’ vile posts on the Telegram app were revealed after an undercover police officer posed as an extremist. Yates, then 17, was part of a Telegram channel featuring a network of like-minded young people with hateful views.

On Snapchat he said he was trying to convert someone to ‘hate ni*****, gays and Muslims’. In a voice note on Telegram he said the ‘real problem’ was with Jews, and said the British Army is ‘full of ni*****, gays and females who fight for the Jew’.

Yates, who was also found with disgusting extreme pornography – which he also claimed to find abhorrent – downloaded the two terrorist documents from the Telegram channel, prosecutor Philip McGhee said. Police went to arrest him at his home in January 2021, at 7am while he was asleep in a bedroom, where he had a ‘white pride’ flag.

Officers seized his mobile phone and returned it to him a few days later, after it had been wiped and had been restored to factory settings. When officers arrested him again in May, they discovered that Yates had downloaded ‘100 Deadly Skills’ and the ‘White Resistance Manual’ again.

“I don’t think they realise, raiding our houses f****** radicalises us more,” Yates told a friend. He told police had gone down a ‘rabbit hole’ online.

Yates said: “No matter like how far my ideology went, in no point did I ever intend to want to like or plan, never a thing or anything to hurt anyone.” Just a few days ago, Yates made a payment of £39.98 to a website called Knife Warehouse. Prosecutors said there was no evidence available to reveal what he had bought.

Yates, a trainee scaffolder, was first referred to Prevent when he was 13, when a ‘school visit’ was conducted with his parents. Concerns had been raised that Yates had been in discussion with chat rooms with young people of a similar age, discussing how they could defeat ISIS by raising awareness of ISIS activity to protect citizens.

Then when he was aged 16, he was referred to Prevent by his college, who noted he attended class wearing a UKIP bracelet and discussed his political views in a ‘strong manner’. In class discussions, Yates was reported to have said ‘I haven’t got just an issue with Muslims, it’s the whole of Islam’, and ‘I haven’t been radicalised, I would be the one radicalising other people’.

He also said: “I’m as far right as you can be.” The referral was closed after Yates’ father declined help from the authorities.

Defending, Nicola Gatto said Yates was capable of ‘change’ and ‘de-radicalisation’. She said he had no friends at school and became ‘isolated’, spending hours on his computer.

His online network made him feel like he was ‘part of a family’. She claimed that he’d been groomed online and said it could be ‘dangerous’ for him to be jailed where he may come across other more sophisticated criminals.

Sentencing, Judge Alan Conrad QC said: “For some years you have held an extreme right wing mindset, expressing hatred towards a number of minorities, religious, ethnic and other groups. Posts by you have endorsed those who have committed atrocities in the name of such warped ideology.

“Your views are abhorrent to all right-thinking people. You have hate for all sorts of people who have not harmed you and who pose no threat to you.

“What has been seen of you tends to show isolation and an inability or unwillingness to engage with others and form relationships, and, as I have found in dealing with a number of these cases, are a common feature involving young men who – in their own homes – communicate with others of like mind to express their poisonous ideology and enter into very dangerous waters on the internet and via social media, obtaining extreme pornography and texts of which are of use to those interested in terrorism.”

Yates pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a document likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism; and possessing extreme pornography.

Following the case, Detective Chief Inspector Clare Devlin, from CTPNW, said: “This was a thorough and comprehensive investigation which has resulted in Yates facing imprisonment for 30 months.

“Today’s sentencing reaffirms our commitment to making sure those who pose a risk to our society will be pursued and prosecuted. Extremists using this kind of ideology can create fear and distrust among our communities and CTPNW is committed to finding those responsible and bringing them to justice.

“Reports of this nature are always taken seriously and we would encourage anyone with any concerns around people expressing extremist views to call the UK Anti-Terrorism Hotline in confidence on 0800 789 321, or alternatively, use the secure online form at Gov.uk/ACT.”

Cheshire Live

Man jailed for membership of banned neo-Nazi group National Action

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May 28, 2022
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A man from Muswell Hill has been jailed for being an “active” member of the banned far-right group National Action.

David Musins, of Creighton Avenue, admitted to belonging to a proscribed organisation at the Old Bailey on March 14.

The 36-year-old was handed a three-year jail term at the same court on Friday (May 27).

Judge Anthony Leonard QC said the circumstances made it hard to come to any other view than to conclude that Musins was “fully immersed in the ideology of the group”.

Rejecting his plea for a suspended sentence, the judge said: “Your involvement in the organisation was substantial.”

His involvement – over a period from around March 2016 to September 2017 – included attending the London branch of National Action, as well as events held in Derbyshire, Darlington and Swindon.

He was also involved in a promotional video for the group, which changed its name to NS131 after becoming a proscribed organisation in December 2016.

That level of involvement saw the judge arrive at an original starting point of six years in custody.

The final term reached came as a result of reductions to reflect guilty plea, and to account for the mitigating circumstances offered.

In terms of mitigation, the judge acknowledged that Musins left the group of his own accord, and that he sought help from a therapist following his arrest.

He had no previous convictions.

While “significant”, the judge maintained those factors did not “expunge” behaviour and beliefs he described as “abhorrent”.

“You accept that you became involved with some very dangerous people over the internet while you were a member of National Action,” he remarked.

The judge further acknowledged that the 36-year-old did not know National Action was a proscribed group, but said this did not alter his sentencing.

In a letter written to the court, Musins admitted to becoming a “racist in a separatist sense” during this period.

The judge said those beliefs demonstrated a “commitment to hostility”, which supported his view that a custodial sentence must be imposed.

Musins was arrested by counter-terrorism officers on November 10, 2021 and charged with the offence on February 4 this year.

He will serve a further year on extended licence following the conclusion of his custodial sentence.

HamHigh

British boy, 14, who downloaded bombmaking guides avoids jail

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May 20, 2022
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Teenager from Darlington thought to be the youngest person in UK charged with terrorism offences

A teenager who downloaded guides to making bombs, and is thought to be the youngest person in the UK charged with terrorism offences, has avoided jail after being sentenced to a referral order.

The UK’s chief magistrate, Judge Paul Goldspring, sitting at Newton Aycliffe youth court in County Durham, said that if the 14-year-old boy had been an adult, he would be facing a jail sentence of up to five years.

The boy, from Darlington, downloaded substantial amounts of material on how to make weapons and bombs and how to start a militia. He expressed admiration for the Columbine High school massacre and came to the attention of counter terror police when, on social media, he talked about blowing up an orphanage.

He had an interest in the far right and posted messages and material that was racist, homophobic, antisemitic and Islamophobic. He was 11 when he downloaded an image of Adolf Hitler from 1933.

The boy told the judge that it was all a fantasy and bravado, and that he would never have carried out the kind of attacks he talked about online.

The court heard that the boy was on the autism spectrum. He first appeared at Westminster magistrates court in January when he admitted three counts of possessing material useful to a terrorist.

The judge said the views expressed by the boy were “disgusting”.

“Just about every minority receives your vitriol, and the terminology you used was concerning and abhorrent in equal measure.”

But the judge added that imposing a custodial sentence would undo all the rehabilitation the boy had achieved over the past year.

Defence solicitor, Stephen Andrews, said the boy had experienced traumatic family events which had taken their toll. “You have before the courts a very complex young man, showing signs of both extreme naivety and vulnerability, at the same time as elements of sophistication.”

Andrews said the boy was bullied and extremely isolated, and the internet appeared to be a way of changing that, a way of making himself “look cool”.

He continued: “All of a sudden, he has an identity. All of a sudden he belongs to something. All of a sudden he is part of a group.”

The judge questioned to the boy directly, telling him that he was taking a risk by not imposing a custodial sentence.

He asked about his interests – football and hanging out with mates – and whether he held the views he espoused online. “No,” the boy replied “It doesn’t matter what religion or race you are.”

Det Supt Matthew Davison, the regional Prevent co-ordinator at Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said the case illustrated how young people can be radicalised in a strikingly short space of time. “Crossing the line from things that can be quite innocent into what can become criminal can be very quick and very short.”

Davison said the pandemic and lockdowns had led to young people spending more time online, alone in their bedrooms, and that was a concern.

“It can be quite a short journey and that’s why it’s so important for families, friends, parents or guardians to be aware of the signs to look out for. They should trust their instincts and act early.

“Our mantra is, the earlier we can act, the more we can prevent people progressing down the road to criminality.”

The Guardian

‘Terror threat’ boy spared custody over synagogue bomb Twitter post

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April 27, 2022
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A boy who downloaded manuals for explosives and tweeted that he was a “domestic terror threat” who would “bomb a synagogue” has avoided custody.

The 16-year-old was arrested in Bootle, Merseyside, in 2021 after authorities in the US were alerted to his post.

Liverpool Youth Court heard he had also been pictured doing a Nazi salute and a “white power” symbol.

However, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said he believed detaining the boy may undo his rehabilitation.

Handing the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, a 12-month referral order, he said a “non-custodial sentence would be in the public interest”.

‘Most appalling behaviour’

The court heard how the boy, who is autistic, was arrested on 28 May 2021 after taking to Twitter to post a message which read: “I am a domestic terror threat. I will bomb a synagogue.”

The hearing was also told he had searched online for “nearest synagogue to me”.

Prosecutor Diana Wilson said on arrest, the boy told his mother the post “was a joke”, but a subsequent search of his devices showed he had downloaded handbooks about weapons.

Ms Wilson said the documents were “lengthy, difficult to obtain, detailed descriptions of how to make bombs”.

She also said the boy had created numerous posts which were anti-Semitic, racist, transphobic, homophobic and reflected an incel ideology.

Defending, Gerard Pitt said the teenager had been introduced to a far-right community after he began playing Fortnite online and had found forming relationships within the video game and on Twitter easier than in his everyday life.

He said the boy also followed some “professional trolls” and began “making his own content” in 2020, sharing messages, documents and online searches, but there was no evidence he had tried to build a bomb and he no longer held the same views.

The boy admitted one count of possessing a document containing information useful to terrorism, two counts of racial hatred by distributing a recording, three of publishing material to stir up racial hatred and one of sending by an offensive message.

Sentencing him, Mr Goldspring said the boy had said “something derogatory” about “virtually every minority group that exists” and had shown “some of the most appalling behaviour by a young person I have seen”.

He said reading the court documents, his “heart sank” at the “scale, scope and nature of your hatred”, but he had decided detaining the boy would be inappropriate and could undo rehabilitative steps he had made.

He added that while he had “struggled greatly with making the decision”, he was of the belief that “a non-custodial sentence would be in the public interest”.

BBC News

Glenrothes man fails to have terrorism sentence cut

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April 8, 2022
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A man who idolised right-wing mass killers and hated Muslims has failed in a bid to have his prison sentence for terrorism offences cut.

Sam Imrie, 24, who admired Christchurch mosque mass murderer Brenton Tarrant, is serving a seven and-a-half year jail term.

He was arrested in July 2019 after posting on social media he was going to attack Fife Islamic Centre, Glenrothes.

Imrie was convicted on two charges of breaching the Terrorism Act.

Following a trial in Edinburgh in October 2021, he was also convicted of wilful fire raising, drink-driving and possessing “extreme” indecent images of children.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Imrie had acquired an arsenal of weapons in his home in Glenrothes, Fife. They included a combat knife, nunchucks, an axe, a black-handled knife, a hammer, a rifle scope and a wooden-handled lock knife.

Police also recovered a “manifesto” entitled the “Great Replacement” by far-right terrorist Tarrant, who murdered 51 people in his March 2019 attacks in New Zealand.

They also recovered a manifesto written by Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in attacks in Norway in 2011.

Nazi ideology

Police also discovered computer equipment containing thousands of images glorifying fa- right terrorism attacks and Nazi ideology.

On Friday, defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson told appeal judges Lord Matthews and Lord Malcolm their colleague Lord Mulholland had not followed correct sentencing procedures when jailing Imrie.

Mr Paterson said if he had done so, Imrie would have received a lesser sentence.

But the appeal judges concluded that Lord Mulholland, who sentenced him in December last year, had acted correctly.

Lord Matthews said: “We are unable to detect any error in his approach. It cannot be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was excessive.”

‘Childhood trauma’

Mr Paterson said his client had experienced “trauma” in his life and that Lord Mulholland should have taken this into account.

He told the Court of Criminal Appeal: “During his childhood, Mr Imrie experienced a fairly traumatic experience when he was assaulted and lost his teeth and stopped attending school.

“Thereafter, he continued to withdraw from life and became more isolated from his family and his friends. He would stay in his bedroom and spend his days looking at his computer and drinking alcohol.

“His background is one which has arisen from childhood trauma.”

BBC News

Hitler-obsessed Newcastle neo-Nazi had child abuse images as well as right wing terrorist material

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April 8, 2022
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Luke Hunter, of High Callerton, admitted making indecent images of children but claims he has no sexual interest in youngsters

A Hitler-obsessed neo-Nazi had child abuse images alongside right wing terrorist material.

Luke Hunter was jailed previously for terrorism offences after being found with material including Nazi memorabilia, white supremacist texts and recordings of him expressing his deeply disturbing views.

Now it has been revealed police also found sickening indecent images of children during the search. He admitted possessing them although he claims he has no sexual interest in children and was trying to entice, tease or goad those who do.

Newcastle Crown Court heard a warrant was executed at his home at High Callerton, Newcastle, in October 2019, in respect of the terrorism offences. On the Kik platform on his phone, indecent images had been exchanged in a group chat involving 35 people. His computer tower with two hard drives was also found to contain the child abuse images.

In total, his devices contained 22 of the most serious, category A images, 11 category B and 39 category C. Anne Richardson, prosecuting, said: “One girl had material around her neck as she was being sexually abused in distress.”

Hunter pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children. He was due to be sentenced but the case was adjourned for an assessment to take place of the future risk he poses to children.

Joe Culley, defending, told the court: “He says he was teasing or goading other people in the group. He says he doesn’t have a sexual interest in children.”

Hunter, who has a form of autism spectrum disorder, is currently serving a prison sentence for the terrorism offences. He has a provisional release date of December next year but has a parole hearing in June.

Hunter, 24, had previously admitted seven charges of encouraging terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications and was sentenced in December 2020 to four years and two months prison, with an extended licence of an extra year, at Leeds Crown Court.

We reported at the time how he was arrested as part of an investigation into Right Wing Terrorism, led by Counter Terrorism Policing North East. Searches of Hunter’s home address revealed an obsession with Hitler and neo-Nazism and resulted in the seizure of a large number of white supremacist texts, military training manuals and guides on surveillance, guerrilla warfare, weapons and explosives.

Officers also recovered Nazi memorabilia and a machete from his bedroom. Hunter’s media devices were found to contain thousands of documents, videos and audio files of an extreme right wing nature, in addition to the manifestos of previous mass murderers and recordings of Hunter himself, expressing his deeply disturbing views.

Officers said he was “persistent and prolific” in his efforts to promote right wing terrorism, utilising a variety of platforms and accounts to spread his hateful ideology and encourage others to do the same. He also created content and established his own website through which to disseminate his vile white supremacist, anti-Semitic and homophobic views.

Through this site he avidly promoted violent right wing propaganda, terrorist handbooks and instructional material. Hunter had a significant online reach, particularly among young people, with his Telegram channel alone having more than 1,200 subscribers.

Chronical Live

Preston man encouraged terrorism against Jews and Muslims

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April 8, 2022
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Thomas Leech was jailed after pleading guilty to a number of offences

A neo-Nazi who encouraged far-right terrorism against Jews and Muslims has been sentenced to two years in a young offenders institution.

Thomas Leech, 19, posted a “call to arms” and glorified far-right killers online.

Manchester Crown Court heard that after being arrested by police, he told officers: “I am a Nazi.”

Leech, of Preston, pleaded guilty to encouraging acts of terrorism and stirring up religious or racial hatred.

The court was told Leech believed conspiracy theories that Jewish people were planning the “Great Replacement” of the white race through extinction and the “Islamicisation” of Europe.

Joe Allman, prosecuting, said he first came to police attention when he claimed to be planning a shooting at his school in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, in January 2017.

He told police it was a “prank” and received a caution and some intervention.

Leech was referred to Prevent, the Government’s deradicalisation programme, but he “dropped off the radar” when he moved to Gillingham, Kent, in June 2017.

After moving to Preston in 2020, posts by him on an online platform were found by the Community Security Trust, a charity involved in security for Jewish communities.

Mr Allman said: “The cumulative effect of the posts is a call to arms by Mr Leech, inciting others who shared his world view to commit mass murder.”

‘Deeply disturbing’

Leech posted that the Holocaust was a hoax and Jews controlled the world, as well as posting Third Reich imagery and anti-Muslim content, the court heard.

Police found he had posted about Anders Breivik, who murdered 69 youngsters in Norway, and Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019.

The men along with Dylann Roof, a white supremacist who murdered nine African-Americans at a church in Charleston in the US in 2015, were talked of in terms of martyrs to the white race, the court heard.

The court heard there was no evidence Leech’s posts had inspired anyone to commit an offence.

Rachel White, mitigating, said some offences were committed when Leech was aged only 17 or 18 and that he suffered from autism, agoraphobia and bullying, which kept him out of school.

She said he rarely left his home, spending his life online and was “effectively became a keyboard warrior”.

But Judge Alan Conrad QC branded Leech’s action as “deeply disturbing”.

Leech, of Derby Road, admitted three counts of encouraging acts of terrorism and two counts of stirring up religious or racial hatred, between March and November 2020.

He also admitted possessing indecent images of children.

BBC News

Far-right cell found guilty of terror offences

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March 29, 2022
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Liam Hall, Stacey Salmon, Daniel Wright and Samuel Whibley had denied multiple offences

Four members of a “fascist” cell who made pistol parts on a 3D printer and celebrated right-wing attacks have been convicted of a range of offences.

Daniel Wright, 29, Liam Hall, 31, and Stacey Salmon, 29, all from Keighley, West Yorkshire, and Samuel Whibley, 29, from Menai Bridge, Anglesey, had denied the charges.

During the trial prosecutors said the four “celebrated racist violence and killing” through online messages.

They will be sentenced at a later date.

A two-month trial, which was moved to Doncaster Crown Court due to problems at Sheffield Crown Court, heard the defendants used online messaging app Telegram to exchange terror manuals, share racist ideology and post videos of atrocities.

Prosecutor Annabel Darlow QC said the group described killers such as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway, as “saints”.

She told jurors the group also had an “active interest in the manufacture of explosives and weaponry”.

Daniel Wright, of Whinfield Avenue, Keighley, was found guilty of disseminating a terrorist publication, possessing articles for terrorist purposes, and the collection of information contrary to the Terrorism Act.

He was also found guilty of possessing and manufacturing a firearm.
3D printed gun

Counter terrorism recovered a partially constructed 3D printed gun from Hall and Salmon’s home

Liam Hall, of Hill Top Walk, Keighley, was cleared of possessing articles for terrorist purposes, but found guilty of possessing and manufacturing a firearm.

Hall’s partner Stacey Salmon, of the same address, was also cleared of possessing articles for terrorist purposes, but convicted of possessing a firearm.

Samuel Whibley, of Derwen Deg, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, was found guilty of the encouragement of terrorism and disseminating a terrorist publication.

Det Ch Supt Martin Snowden, head of counter terrorism policing north east, said unknown to the four defendants an undercover officer had infiltrated their online chat.

“None of their security measures were enough to maintain their anonymity, or ultimately prevent their arrest and prosecution,” he said.

He said the group had a “deeply entrenched extreme right-win mindset”.

“The vitriolic hatred expressed by these defendants went far beyond an intolerance of others,” he said.

“While the group had no clear target at the time of their arrest, they pushed relentlessly for violent action in pursuit of their objectives.

The judge, Mr Justice Spencer said he hoped to sentence the four before the end of May, however reports needed to be prepared about Wright and Whibley to help him assess the danger they presented.

“There needs to be a lot of thought given over to the sentences in this case,” he said.

BBC News

‘Fascist cell’ convicted of terror and firearm offences after trying to make 3D-printed gun

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March 29, 2022
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Two of the defendants were members of an online group where terror manuals and weapons guides were shared among neo-Nazis

Members of a “fascist cell” have been convicted of terror and firearms offences after police discovered they were trying to manufacture 3D-printed guns.

Samuel Whibley, 29, Daniel Wright, 29, Liam Hall, 31, and his girlfriend Stacey Salmon, 29, were convicted of a total of 15 offences on Thursday.

A trial at Sheffield Crown Court heard that in the home Hall and Salmon shared with their children, officers found an improvised explosive device, homemade explosive substances, chemicals and parts of a 3D-printed handgun.

The unfinished “improvised firearm” found in the kitchen was found to have Hall, Salmon and Wright’s DNA on it.

The trio lived in Keighley, while Whibley is from Anglesey in Wales and had not met them in person, the court heard.

He had set up a neo-Nazi channel on the encrypted Telegram app, and linked private chat, which Wright joined.

Prosecutor Annabel Darlow QC said the channel and chat “encouraged readers to take violent action”.

“It wasn’t about academic interest or theorising, this was about finding the ways and means to copy those responsible for the worst extreme right wing atrocities,” she told jurors.

“These four defendants were members of an extreme fascist and terroristic cell during the first four months of 2021. They embraced extreme right-wing propaganda and celebrated racist violence and killing.”

The defendants had denied all charges. Whibley, of Menai Bridge in Wales, was convicted of two counts of encouraging terrorism and two counts of “providing a service” where people could obtain terrorist publications through the Oaken Hearth Telegram channel and a linked chat group.

He was also convicted of four counts of disseminating terrorist publications including bomb-making instructions, “killing techniques” and a manual on making a 3D-printed firearm.

Wright, of Braithwaite in Keighley, was convicted of one count of disseminating a terrorist pulbication and three counts of collecting information useful to a terrorist.

He and Hall, also of Keighley, were jointly convicted of manufacturing a prohibited firearm.

They are also charged, alongside Ms Salmon, of possessing a prohibited 3D-printed firearm. They were additionally convicted of illegally possessing that firearm, alongside Salmon.

She and her partner Hall were acquitted of possessing the unfinished weapon for a terrorist purpose, but Wright was convicted on the same charge.

The Independent.

Leeds teenager admits extreme right-wing social media posts

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March 15, 2022
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A 16-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to terrorism offences after a member of the public reported his extreme right-wing posts on social media.

The teenager, from Leeds, was arrested in May 2021 and was later charged with disseminating a terrorist publication and possessing terrorist material.

He was sentenced at Leeds Youth Court on Monday to a 12-month referral order for each offence, which will run concurrently.

The boy cannot be named due to his age.

The order means he will be referred to a panel consisting of two trained community volunteers and a member of the youth offending team in a bid to address his offending behaviour.

The teenager was also ordered by the court to pay costs and was given a criminal behaviour order that will last until the day before his 18th birthday.

Det Ch Supt Martin Snowden, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said he was “immensely grateful” the offence had been reported to police.

“We would always encourage members of the public to report material of concern so it can be removed and appropriate action taken,” he said.

“We have seen before how online extremism can fuel hate and influence others, and that is true of this case.”

BBC News