The first British police officer to be convicted of belonging to a neo-Nazi terrorist group has been jailed for greater than four years.
Ben Hannam, 22, was arrested in his bed room in March 2020, the place officers discovered his partitions lined in Nazi propaganda and Star Wars posters he favored as a result of he stated they reminded him of fascist artwork, with manuals detailing the manufacturing of organic weapons and knife fight hidden on a USB stick among the many mess.
Hannam later instructed the court docket about difficulties confronted in his three-and-a-half-year secret relationship along with his Muslim girlfriend, which started in 2014. He stated his girlfriend’s dad and mom have been ‘actually strict’ and ‘hated’ him, though he tried to review Islam.
Today, Judge Anthony Leonard QC sentenced Hannam, who was final week sacked by the Met for gross misconduct, to a complete of four years and four months’ imprisonment.
The decide instructed him: ‘I take into account what you probably did to be very critical and you will have harmed public belief within the police by your deceit.’
Hannam, who lives along with his mom after his father left them, was discovered responsible earlier this month of being a member of National Action, a proscribed terrorist organisation, together with two counts of possessing paperwork helpful for terrorism and for fraud.
A decide beforehand dominated the three-week trial couldn’t be reported as a result of Hannam was additionally dealing with prices of possessing prohibited photographs of underage women, however he pleaded responsible to the costs final week.
The Old Bailey heard Hannam joined National Action in March 2016, nevertheless it was stated his affiliation with the far-right group ended earlier than he started working for the Metropolitan Police in March 2018. However, the defendant appeared in a recruitment video for a gaggle referred to as NS131 – an off-shoot of National Action – simply days earlier than making an utility to the Met in July 2017.
His exercise was found when an nameless hacker utilizing the identify ‘antifa-data’ [anti-fascist data] hacked right into a neo-Nazi discussion board referred to as Iron March and revealed particulars of its 1,185 customers online.
The court docket heard Hannam joined National Action’s London department in March 2016 after being rejected by his Muslim girlfriend’s household. He was seduced by free stickers, out of doors actions and the friendship of a ‘cool’ huge brother-type determine.
Even after the far-right group was banned in December 2016, Hannam – who is autistic – continued to affiliate with among the identical individuals, and was filmed spray portray fascist graffiti weeks earlier than he utilized to hitch the Metropolitan Police in July 2017.
Hannam, who was introduced up by a single mom and has two sisters and a youthful brother, ended his affiliation with NA earlier than he started working for the Met as a probationary officer.
The court docket was instructed counter-terrorism officers acted ‘swiftly’ as soon as he had been recognized as a suspect, with commander Richard Smith insisting Hannam was a ‘distinctive’ case.
He stated: ‘Ben Hannam clearly lied on his utility type to hitch the Met. He would by no means have been capable of be part of had we identified then of his curiosity within the excessive proper wing and his earlier membership of National Action. Once we recognized his involvement with that organisation we took rapid steps to arrest him and put him earlier than the court docket.’
He harassed there was no proof Hannam abused his place ‘to additional his extremist views’.
After Hannam’s arrest, detectives discovered a picture on his iPhone displaying him in police uniform, with a Hitler-style moustache superimposed on his face added, he stated, by a schoolfriend.
They additionally discovered he had downloaded a knife-fighting guide and a replica of the ‘manifesto’ of the rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who murdered 77 individuals, largely youngsters, in bomb and gun assaults in Norway on July 22 2011.
Dan Pawson-Pounds, prosecuting, stated the Breivik doc included bomb making directions and ‘exhaustive justifications for his mass-casualty assaults.’
The ideology of NA was described in court docket as based mostly on ‘Aryan purity’ and hatred of non-white teams, notably Jews. Members honored Adolf Hitler as a ‘divine determine’ and celebrated violence, together with conflict and genocide, the court docket heard.
Hannam instructed the court docket his curiosity in fascism began as a result of he favored the ‘daring look’ of Nazi propaganda posters and his autism made him obsessive about downloading materials.
His college, Winchmore School in Enfield, had raised considerations internally over his extremist views after feedback about immigration throughout a debate on Brexit and an A-level challenge on extremist ideology which couldn’t be submitted due to the content material.
However, when Hannam utilized to the police in July 2017, he gave his college as a reference, regardless of dropping out of his theology course after just one time period, and no college reference was sought.
As a part of the police utility course of he was requested if he had ever been a member of the British National Party ‘or an identical organisation, whose structure, goals, aims, or pronouncements could contradict police officers’ responsibility to advertise race equality.’
In answering no, he was stated to have defrauded the police out of the £66,000 they spent using him between March 26 2018, when he began as a trainee, and his arrest in March final yr.
After his arrest, Hannam’s cease and search data, crime experiences and case recordsdata have been all reviewed and police discovered there was ‘no proof that Hannam focused people because of any right-wing views.’
The Old Bailey heard that on March 6 2016 Hannam had attended a National Action assembly in a pub in Paddington and that till the summer season of 2017, he had continued to attend actions organised by the group.
It was stated he appeared to foster ‘illiberal’ views as a scholar at Winchmore School in Enfield, with historical past trainer Lisa Hughes saying he made ‘inappropriate’ anti-immigration feedback throughout a Brexit debate in 2016.
In May 2017, she refused to submit an A-level politics dissertation due to his ‘illiberal’ view of Islam.
Hannam was referred to steerage adviser Hafida Zitouni, who described him as ‘respectful’ and ‘well mannered’ though he averted the problem.
Ben Hannam, 22, a probationary officer on the drive, has been discovered responsible of membership of right-wing extremist group National Action following a trial on the Old Bailey. Pictured: An picture discovered on Hannam’s iPhone displaying him in a police uniform with a Hitler-style moustache superimposed on his face
When officers searched his bed room final yr, they discovered neo-Nazi posters, notes detailing his membership of NA, in addition to NA badges and enterprise playing cards. Nazi propaganda will be seen on the wall by his mattress alongside Star Wars posters, which the court docket heard he likened to the paintings and imagery of fascism
Hannam (circled) is seen at a Yates Bar in Swindon on January 15, 2017, the place he met NA co-founder Alex Davies and others
Hannam pictured leaving Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London in August forward of the three-week trial
A diary belonging to Hannam through which he detailed ‘attainable group actions’ and his ‘life in latest years’
Hannam (circled) joined the Metropolitan Police in March 2018, making an utility weeks after he was filmed spray portray fascist graffiti
The defendant is seen doing a Nazi salute and holding a National Action flag throughout a gathering of the neo-Nazi group
Over the course of round 15 classes, he spoke as an alternative about his frustrations that his Mauritian Muslim girlfriend’s dad and mom didn’t settle for him.
Ms Zitouni additionally famous he appeared to lack self-confidence round Valentine’s Day and exams.
Pictured: Hannam, whose actions have been found after an nameless hacker utilizing the identify ‘antifa-data’ [anti-fascist data] hacked right into a neo-Nazi discussion board referred to as Iron March
Giving proof, Hannam described the difficulties in his three-and-a-half-year secret relationship, which started in 2014. He stated his girlfriend’s dad and mom have been ‘actually strict’ and ‘hated’ him, though he tried to review Islam.
At the time, his pursuits ranged from Japanese anime, Dungeons and Dragons and languages – together with the Lord of the Rings’ Elvish.
From the age of round 16, he additionally developed a darker fascination with fascism, which he was uncovered to online by way of 4Chan, an nameless bulletin board.
He stated he was drawn into it by way of the paintings and imagery of fascism, which he likened to Star Wars Stormtroopers.
Hannam instructed the court docket: ‘It was the look and aesthetic of fascism that began it. The daring look of the pictures.’
The defendant stated he went seeking associates he might discuss politics with, as a result of he ‘struggled socially’.
He instructed jurors: ‘It is sensible now I do know I’m autistic. I wrestle studying individuals’s faces. As I’ve grown older, I’ve turn into higher at communication expertise. My pursuits have been at all times vastly completely different from everybody else’s.
‘When I used to be at secondary college, after my dad left I acquired caught with a behavioural group.
Hannam seen in his bed room upon his arrest in footage launched by the Metropolitan Police
Hannam seen throughout an out of doors boxing occasion in footage proven to the jury throughout his trial
Hannam (seen above) instructed jurors he had been drawn to fascism aged 16 due to its daring paintings and contacted NA after seeing propaganda online
Hannam (above) was convicted of mendacity on his utility and vetting varieties to hitch the Met and having terror paperwork detailing knife fight and making explosive gadgets
‘At secondary college my pursuits have been fantasy and Dungeons and Dragons. It’s actually Big Bang Theory-esque. I couldn’t focus on politics with anybody. I felt very lonely.’
In 2014, Hannam stated he downloaded mass killer Anders Breivik’s excessive proper wing manifesto as a result of it was ‘free’.
He claimed solely to have learn the primary 20 pages, discovering it ‘boring’, though he stored the copy.
Hannam, who had Nazi-style posters by his mattress, stated he first grew to become conscious of NA by way of discussions on 4Chan.
He stated: ‘Originally the long-term factor was the social isolation and the short-term factor I used to be on 4Chan and they have been pumping out these good high quality photos and I assumed these are actually skilled.’
He emailed the London department of NA after watching co-founder Benjamin Raymond saying he wished ‘college educated younger males’ on the tv, he stated.
During his first assembly at a pub in Paddington, Hannam was impressed by the organiser Ivan, who handed out free stickers and NA badges.
Afterwards, he wrote in his diary they have been a ‘good bunch of lads’ and that he ‘can’t wait to get extra concerned’.
Hannam stated he was instructed to hitch fascist net discussion board Iron March, the place he discovered extra extremist literature and photographs.
He stated: ‘I had not heard of Iron March till Ivan instructed me. At the assembly I used to be actually actually impressed by Ivan. Handsome, assured, clever. He appeared actually completely happy I confirmed up. He was giving me free stuff.
‘He stated if you wish to come and cling once more it’s important to make a put up on Iron March, a proper wing web site.
‘The function was to extend the clout. At the time I do issues with out questioning them and that is actually apparent once you ask my sergeant within the police.
‘Ivan simply instructed me to do it. I assumed he was actually cool. I stated OK. He stated point out (NA co-founder) Alex Davies and point out some Nazi stuff and I assumed it was simply an introductory put up.
‘He stated after you’ve got been authorised it’s important to preserve posting in any other case your profile is closed.
‘You’ve acquired to say issues within the web site that slot in with the ideology. I used to be determined for his approval. I simply felt he was a a lot cooler older man.’
Hannam went on to attend the NA convention in Liverpool and went to boxing and graffiti occasions even after NA was banned. But he insisted he had by no means been a member of NA as a result of he didn’t go to demonstrations or banner drops.
He stated: ‘I caught to social actions. Most of the time was going to the pub and going for walks. Other occasions tenting or going boxing. Often it was simply younger males assembly up getting some snacks and some meals and going for a stroll.’
Towards the top of his affiliation with NA, Hannam stated he had been crushed up and the final straw was listening to a ‘Satanist’ discuss in regards to the rape of girls, he claimed.
Describing the alleged incident, he stated: ‘One man had a machete, actually frothing from the mouth speaking about raping girls and I stated ‘how will you say that, you will have a mum, how would you’re feeling in case your mum heard you say this’.
‘I used to be sick of hate. I used to be fed up. They stored giving me issues for free. I simply wished to hang around with them. In the top it acquired too sick. That was it. I left.’
Hannam denied he had ever been a member both earlier than or after NA was proscribed. He additionally claimed that NA was ‘not much like the BNP’ because it was not a political social gathering.
But when he launched the organisation, Mr Davies was quoted as saying: ‘We are just like the BNP however extra radical.’
Professor Matthew Feldman, of Teesside University, was requested for his evaluation of how far Hannam had been radicalised.
The professional on post-war proper wing extremism stated: ‘The bodily and digital objects possessed or communicated by Mr Hannam is in step with engagement with right-wing extremism, specifically adherence to fascist ideology and probably veiled however none-the-less evident neo-Nazi mindset.’
Hannam’s actions with the NA will be tracked from March 2016 to July 2017, when the defendant spray painted the image for an NA alias – NS131 – in a storm drain on the outskirts of Swindon, which was filmed for a promotional video.
In the movie, Hannam is heard to say: ‘Do you thoughts if I throw my hood up, thanks. My hair, my hair identifies me.’
Days later, on July 19, Hannam utilized to hitch Scotland Yard, fraudulently denying he had ever been a member of the British National Party ‘or comparable organisation’.
Throughout his exercise with the NA, he posed in an official {photograph} on Crosby Beach at a convention in Liverpool in April 2016, and continued to fulfill with high-profile individuals linked to the group after it was proscribed that December.
In January 2017, he travelled to Swindon pubs the place he met NA co-founder Alex Davies and others. And in April of the identical yr, he took half in out of doors boxing in woodland which was filmed on Mr Davies’ digital camera.
As early as May 2014, Hannam had expressed illiberal views, writing: ‘I’m not racist, I simply do not like individuals who’s pores and skin is darker than mine! (sic)’
He had saved on a USB stick two paperwork stated to be helpful to a terrorist.
Mass assassin Anders Breivik’s manifesto contained steerage on making radiological, chemical and organic weapons, and improvised explosive gadgets whereas the second doc detailed tips on how to perform a deadly knife assault.
Several posters have been discovered on the wall of Hannam’s bed room wall following his arrest
Hannam’s affiliation with NA ended earlier than he started working for the Met and counter-terrorism officers acted ‘swiftly’ as soon as he had been recognized as a suspect
In his defence, Hannam denied he had ever been a member of NA earlier than or after it was banned.
Checks discovered ‘nothing of concern’ in his work on the Metropolitan Police and no complaints from colleagues or members of the general public about his behaviour.
Before his arrest, Hannam had an ‘unremarkable profession’, other than receiving a remaining warning for gross misconduct in 2018 for utilizing his brother’s Oyster card.
Some of Hannam’s former associates have been convicted over their actions.
In 2019, Oskar Dunn-Koczorowski, then 18, from west London, was given an 18-month detention and coaching order for encouraging an assault on Prince Harry, calling him a ‘race traitor’.
The identical yr, Elliott Richards-Good, 20, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was convicted of stirring up racial hatred and sentenced to 16 months in a younger offender establishment.
London department organiser Mark Jones, 25, Sowerby Bridge, close to Halifax in West Yorkshire, was convicted of belonging to NA and jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2020.
Earlier this month, Commander Richard Smith moved to reassure the general public after it emerged that Hannam joined the Metropolitan Police after mendacity about his affiliation with NA.
Mr Smith, who is head of the Met’s counter terrorism command, stated: ‘We have been investigating people linked to the Iron March discussion board, which carries excessive right-wing materials.
‘We have been shocked to search out one of many people we have been in search of to establish turned out to be a serving probationary police officer. Ben Hannam clearly lied on his utility type to hitch the Met.
‘He would by no means have been capable of be part of had we identified then of his curiosity within the excessive proper wing and his earlier membership of National Action.
‘Once we recognized his involvement with that organisation, we took rapid steps to arrest him and put him earlier than the court docket.’
He stated there was no proof that Hannam was a part of a ‘deliberate’ try by the acute proper to infiltrate the drive. A overview of his work has not revealed any signal that he tried to attract others into his excessive ideology.
Mr Smith stated: ‘We discovered no proof that he used his place as a police officer to additional his extremist views.’
During his time within the drive, Hannam had no direct entry to the Police National Computer, though he might have requested others to do checks on instances he was coping with.
The Met’s vetting course of for new recruits is ‘proportionate’, Mr Smith stated. ‘The processes we now have to vet potential members of the police service are proportionate, that is to not say they can’t be completely exhaustive.’
The ideology of NA was described in court docket as based mostly on ‘Aryan purity’ and hatred of non-white teams, notably Jews. Pictured: Hannam spray portray graffiti
A pocket book discovered within the bed room of Hannam contained a sticker for National Action
Hannam poses subsequent to a National Action flag in photographs proven to jurors on the Old Bailey
He declined to ‘speculate’ on whether or not a face-to-face interview, reasonably than a vetting type, would have uncovered Hannam’s views.
The officer stated a reference from the college Hannam attended within the autumn of 2017 didn’t elevate any points. Mr Smith added: ‘To the perfect of my data this is a singular case.
‘I’m not conscious of another police officer ever dealing with prosecution for membership of a terrorist group.
‘I’d reassure the general public by stating how swiftly we acted, as quickly as he was recognized, to arrest and prosecute him.
‘Ben Hannam had been within the Metropolitan Police lower than two years once we acquired this information and we acted instantly.
‘People be part of the Met Police Service with the intent of maintaining individuals secure from hurt.
‘The views Ben Hannam expressed online and was taken with online are completely incompatible with being a police officer.’
The court docket had heard that Hannam was radicalised online and joined National Action’s London department earlier than it was banned.
On the risk posed to weak individuals, Mr Smith stated: ‘Radicalisation can happen by way of many routes. We have a transparent concern about extremist materials accessible online and we act robustly once we discover it.
‘I’d urge anybody with considerations about any person weak to radicalisation who could also be accessing this abhorrent materials online to report the matter to the police there is specialist assist accessible.’
The College of Policing’s Vetting Authorised Professional Practice (APP), which is nationwide steerage and units the requirements for police forces in England and Wales on vetting, is being up to date however not because of any particular case.
Police discovered enterprise playing cards for National Action studying ‘Young Radical Nationalist’
Pictured: Notebooks discovered within the house of Hannam, which was raided by police final yr
Hannam (second proper) seen throughout a neo-Nazi gathering in photographs proven to jurors
Following his arrest final March, officers seized a USB stick from his house which contained manuals detailing the manufacturing of organic weapons. Pictured: His bed room
The bed room additionally contained piles of muddle and garbage, alongside a guitar and keyboard
Also present in his bed room was a pocket book with a sticker of Rudolf Hess, a outstanding chief of the Nazi regime
Books are seen scattered on the window ledge of Hannam’s bed room in Edmonton, London
Another pocket book present in Hannam’s house, which contained particulars of his scholar finace
The nationwide utility type beforehand contained a query particularly about BNP membership, in accordance with a spokesman for the College of Policing.
It was up to date in December final yr and now asks candidates whether or not they’re or have been a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation or group.
This consists of organisations that are ‘politically, religiously, racially or environmentally disruptive’.
What is National Action and when was the neo-Nazi terror group fashioned?
National Action was the primary excessive right-wing group to be proscribed because the Second World War, and the eighty fifth group to be proscribed within the UK.
Its roots return to the neo-Nazi online discussion board Iron March which was lively between 2011 and 2017.
In August 2013, National Action emerged from Iron March with stickers and flash demonstrations.
Its neo-Nazi ideology included a perception in ‘Aryan purity’ and hatred of non-white teams, notably Jews. It honored Adolf Hitler as ‘divine’, and celebrated conflict and genocide.
The organisation was most definitely co-founded by Benjamin Raymond and Alex Davies in 2013 and operated by concentrating on college campuses as websites for flyering and recruitment in its ‘reign of terror’.
It was an uncompromising Neo-Nazi group that expressed virulent hatred for non-whites and incited violence towards its perceived enemies.
In March 2020, ‘Miss Hitler’ magnificence pageant entrant Alice Cutter and her ex-partner Mark Jones have been each convicted of membership of National Action, alongside co-accused Garry Jack and Connor Scothern.
In March 2020, ‘Miss Hitler’ magnificence pageant entrant Alice Cutter (left) and her ex-partner Mark Jones (proper) have been each convicted of membership of National Actio
Jones was stated to have performed ‘a major function within the continuation of the organisation’ after its ban, and was concerned in organising coaching camps and ‘grooming’ recruits.
The excessive right-wing group, labelled ‘racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic’ by the then-home secretary Amber Rudd, was banned in December 2016 after calling on followers to emulate the killer of the MP Jo Cox.
National Action was stated to have recruited by way of shut friendship networks or by phrase of mouth, by no means exceeding 100 members with not more than two or three dozen attendees at every rally.
In September 2013 the group launched a ‘Strategy and Promotion’ doc detailing their plans to ‘make means for National Socialism to enter British politics.’
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source https://infomagzine.com/neo-nazi-british-police-officer-is-jailed-for-four-years-and-four-months/
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