Far-right extremists jailed for terror plots

Three Nazi-worshipping extremists convicted of terror offences have been jailed.

Christopher Ringrose, 34, Marco Pitzettu, 25, and Brogan Stewart, 25, were found guilty in May of planning terrorist attacks on mosques and synagogues.

Stewart, from West Yorkshire, was jailed for 11 years, Ringrose, from Staffordshire, was jailed for 10 years, and Pitzettu, from Derbyshire, will serve eight years.

Sentencing them at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, Mrs Justice Cutts said she believed they all continued to adhere to their extreme right-wing ideology.

The judge outlined how the online group the trio belonged to was preparing for an attack on an Islamic education centre in Leeds before they were arrested by counter-terror police.

During their trial it emerged the men, who are not believed to have met in the real world before appearing in court, were preparing to use more than 200 weapons they had amassed, including machetes, swords, crossbows and an illegal stun gun.

Ringrose had also 3D-printed most of the components of a semi-automatic firearm.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC said the three defendants were “followers of an extreme right-wing Nazi ideology” and styled themselves as an armed military group.

Mr Sandiford said by 2024 they were seeking further recruits and hoping to acquire more deadly weapons.

He said by January and February they were planning their first attack and had identified a target in Leeds, harbouring an “intention to commit acts of extremism which involved killing multiple victims”.

The three men were arrested when security services believed an attack was imminent after undercover officers infiltrated their online group.

A jury had rejected arguments the defendants were fantasists with no intention of carrying out their threats and found all three guilty of a charge of preparing acts of terrorism and charges of collecting information likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism.

Ringrose was also convicted of manufacturing a prohibited weapon.

Counter-terror police said the self-styled “militant” online group provided an “echo chamber of extreme right-wing views where they shared horrific racial slurs, glorified mass murderers and encouraged violence against anyone deemed an enemy”.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East Det Ch Supt James Dunkerley said they were a group who “espoused vile racist views and advocated for violence, all to support their extreme right-wing mindset”.

“Some of their defence in court was that it was all fantasy or just part of harmless chat, however all three took real-world steps to plan and prepare for carrying out an attack on innocent citizens.”

He said it had been a complex case involving multiple police forces.

Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said the men plotted “violent acts of terrorism”.

“By their own admission, they were inspired by SS tactics and supremacist ideology.

“The prosecution case against the defendants included their disturbing Telegram and Facebook chats as well as acquiring military equipment such as riot shields, body armour and an arsenal of weapons found at their home addresses that were to be used in readiness for a ‘race war’.”

In her sentencing, Mrs Justice Cutts said she believed the defendants would be dangerous on their release from jail and gave all three extended sentences, with additional licence periods of eight years for Stewart and five years each for Ringrose and Pitzettu.

She said the trio’s ideology was “laid bare” in a 374-page dossier of internet activity put before the jury.

“These pages were filled with hate towards black and other non-white races, especially Muslim people and immigrants, with ideas of white supremacy and racial purity together with a belief that there must soon be a race war.”

This was coupled, she said, with the “glorification and admiration of the policies and actions of Hitler and the German Nazi Party, including antisemitism, and of mass killers who had targeted black or Muslim communities”.

The nine-week-long trial heard how the defendants formed an online group called Einsatz 14 in January 2024, with “like-minded extremists” who wanted to “go to war for their chosen cause”.

The jury was shown a short video Stewart posted of himself wearing a German army helmet, a Nazi armband and a skull face covering.

Prosecutors explained how Stewart discussed torturing a Muslim leader using his “information extraction kit” with an undercover officer.

Stewart called himself “Fuhrer” of the Einsatz 14 group and appointed an undercover officer called Blackheart as the “Obergruppenfuhrer”, which the other two defendants also joined.

Potential recruits were sent a vetting form and Stewart also developed a mission statement for the group which said its “basic duties” included to “target mosques, Islamic education centres and other similar locations”.

And he sent Blackheart details of the Islamic education centre on Mexborough Road in Leeds, including a Google Maps image.

The officer asked Stewart for more detailed information about the plan and he replied that they could smash windows or ambush someone, the court heard.

All three men will be subject to a Serious Crime Prevention Order for five years on release and to Terrorism Notification Requirements for 30 years.

Additional reporting by PA Media