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 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

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

Mark White, of Annitsford, called police officers vile racist names, spat on them while claiming to have Covid 19 and even abused and threatened nurses who were trying to treat him

Twisted Mark White racially abused and spat at police officers while claiming to have coronavirus and tried to bite nurses who were treating him in hospital.

In a sickening display of vile behaviour to emergency workers, White lashed out physically and verbally after being arrested and taken into custody.

He called officers disgusting racist names, headbutted one of them and spat at two while claiming he had covid – causing great concern and worry.

The 36-year-old lowlife, of Briarwood Cottages, Annitsford, North Tyneside, was even abusive to nurses who were trying to treat him after he was injured while being restrained.

He called one at a police station a “fat s**g” then when taken to hospital he tried to bite nurses’ hands and threatened to assault them.

Newcastle Crown Court he has previous convictions for attacking police officers and his victims described him as “vile” and “pathetic”.

The court heard police were called to Seghill, Northumberland, on July 12 to reports of a fight and White was arrested and, after a short struggle, he was put in a police van.

On his way to Bedlington police station, he was abusive and threatening to officers throughout the journey.

On arrival, he kicked the rear door of the van in an attempt to hit an officer.

As he was escorted into the police station, he headbutted a PC, causing swelling just above his right eye.

Due to his continued aggression, he was taken to the ground and put in leg restraints as he issued threats.

He received an injury while being restrained and so a custody nurse was summoned to give him treatment and he called her a “fat s**g”

Amy Levitt, prosecuting, said an ambulance was called for him and he was put on a stretcher.

Miss Levitt said: “He looked directly at one of the officers and said ‘f*** you you p*** c***, just wait’.

“The officer was upset, he is a person of mixed race.”

White was taken to hospital, with police in the ambulance alongside him, and he continued to be aggressive.

He said to one “I bet you like 19-year-old girls you f****** paedo’ and then to another officer he said “You will get in first you f****** p*** c***”.

Miss Levitt said: “At the hospital he continued to be aggressive.

“He tried to bite the hands of nurses trying to help him.”

After threatening to assault another nurse if she treated him, he was taken to a room and restrained in order that he could be treated while being prevented from biting and headbutting.

Miss Levitt said: “He then said he had coronavirus and spat at both officers.

“Spittle landed on the left arm of one PC and on the other officer’s vest.”

Those attacked and abused made a series of victim impact statements which were read to the court.

One PC said: “The assault made me feel so angry. White acted disgustingly and it makes me feel sick.

“While I understand I put myself in harms way as a key worker, I should not be deliberately spat at or coughed at. I have family members at home who are vulnerable who could be susceptible.

“I’m enraged he thinks he can treat any human being like this. It goes to show what a pathetic person he is.”

His colleague added: “I’m appalled by the behaviour shown by White towards myself, I was repeatedly coughed at and was hit with a mixture of saliva and blood.

“No one should have to be treated this way. I was helping him receive medical treatment.

“He was shouting he had covid. Covid is killing people of any age.”

The officer said he was caring and delivering shopping for vulnerable members of his family during the pandemic, adding: “I’m disgusted at his behaviour and actions.

“I was doing my job to keep the public safe. I hope he will realise how vile he has acted towards people who were trying to help him.

“I’m worried I will get the disease and it will have been given to me on purpose by White. I can only hope and pray I don’t contract the disease.”

White, who has 106 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to two offences of causing racially aggravated alarm or distress and three counts of assaulting an emergency worker.

The court heard he has assaulted police officers several times previously and was on a suspended sentence for headbutting one PC and kicking two others at the time of the latest offences.

Judge Christopher Prince adjourned sentence until November 9 in order to get more information about White’s previous convictions.

White, who had been on bail, was remanded in custody until then.

The judge told him: “There’s a substantial risk you will commit further offences.

“I’m not willing to take a substantial risk of you committing further offences, particularly against the police.”

Matthew Purves, defending, said he has been engaging with mental services.
Chronicle Live

A RACIST yob who said “n*****s should be shot” claimed he was a “peacemaker” at a rowdy protest.

Peter Griffen was held by police during the large demo in Glasgow’s George Square on June 14 this year.

Activists from the Glasgow Youth Art Collective had planned to gather there demanding the removal of the statue of former Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel.

This was in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Hundreds of counter protestors then turned up to apparently protect statues from graffiti and damage.

Prosecutor Christopher McKnight told Glasgow Sheriff Court there was a “strong police presence” at George Square.

Griffen was part of a group described as becoming “aggressive” that day.

The 42-year-old was given the chance to leave the area, but ended up being arrested.

He initially threatened one officer also branding him a “c***”.

Griffen was hauled to a police station in the city where he was heard making racist jibes.

He stated: “They should do what they do in America and shoot the n*****s.”

Griffen also branded a police worker a “fenian dog” and made a remark about loyalist group the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Marisa Borland, defending, told the hearing: “Mr Griffen, in his own view, had been acting as a peacekeeper that day.

“He had earlier separated a number of situations which could have caused significant disturbance.

“This also included clearing glass bottles from the area.”

The court heard Griffen kicked off at police when they wrongly thought he was banned from Glasgow city centre.

Miss Borland added: “He felt he was being treated unfairly.”

Griffen, of the city’s Shettleston, pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening and abusive manner which was racially aggravated.

Sheriff Jonathan Guy said the crime merited jail and noted in a pre-sentencing report Griffen moaned he had been the “victim of police harassment”.

But, he concluded “somewhat reluctantly” he been persuaded against locking Griffen up.

The yob will instead carry out 270 hours of unpaid work and will be tagged for 81 days keeping him indoors between 9pm and 7am each day.

Glasgow Evening Times

The son of a House of Lords clerk was a neo-Nazi Satanist who encouraged terrorism, a court has heard.

Prosecutors said Harry Vaughan, 18, had an “extreme right-wing and racist mindset”, and “an interest in explosives, firearms and violence”.

An Old Bailey sentencing hearing was told he had also downloaded indecent videos of children.

Vaughan, from south-west London, admitted 14 terror offences and two of possessing indecent images.

Extreme fringe

Prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds told the court Vaughan, who had been a pupil at Tiffin Grammar School in Kingston upon Thames, held a “hybrid” ideology “of left-hand path Satanism” and “accelerationism” – a belief that an inevitable collapse of civilisation should be brought about through acts of terrorism and criminality.

“Both these doctrines are at the most extreme fringe of Satanism and neo-Nazism,” he said.

The court heard Vaughan, a “focused and able” pupil who achieved A* in his A-Levels, was arrested in his bedroom in June 2019.

It was the result of an investigation into Fascist Forge – an online neo-Nazi forum where terrorism and sexual violence were openly encouraged.

Vaughan uploaded self-made propaganda images to the website promoting the now-banned terrorist organisation Sonnenkrieg Division.

He posted the pictures in a chat thread containing responses from two users – a 16-year-old boy from Durham and a younger teenager from Connecticut – who would later be involved in a terrorist attack plot.

The court heard he had earlier applied to join another British group – System Resistance Network – since outlawed as an alias of the neo-Nazi terror group National Action.

‘Have you got the others?’

His application had vowed he would do anything if he “thought it essential to the cause” and was accompanied by a poster saying: “Muslims Beware – Generation of Revenge – Islam Free Zone”.

Notes and search terms found on Vaughan’s devices included “where to cut to get most blood” and “annihilate females”.

Officers found a list of 129 internet accounts, usernames and passwords on a memory stick in his bedroom, and a large volume of extremist material totalling about 4,200 images and 302 media files.

Upon his arrest last summer, Vaughan asked detectives: “Have you got the others?”

But he refused to answer questions during police interviews and it is still unclear how he first became radicalised.

Police were unable to recover information relating to many of his earlier online activities due to Vaughan resetting his computer.

One document he created in 2018 included an address for an online alias – LionAW – associated with the American militant organisation Atomwaffen Division.

In mitigation, Naeem Mian QC said the defendant “intimates he was groomed” and “knows what he did was wrong”.

He said an expert report suggested that Vaughan was on the “autistic spectrum”.

Vaughan admitted 12 counts of possessing documents useful to a terrorist, one count of encouraging terrorism, and one of disseminating terrorist publications.

The indecent images offences relate to two videos of young boys being raped.

Vaughan will be sentenced on 23 October.

BBC News

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, told police he was “a nine to 10” on a scale with “full on Nazi Hitler” as a 10

A 17-year-old youth has been found guilty of preparing for acts of neo-Nazi terrorism after researching how to convert a blank-firing gun into a live weapon.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, told police he was “a nine to 10” on a scale with “full on Nazi Hitler” as a 10.

Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court deliberated for more than 15 hours over four days before unanimously convicting the boy of preparing for terrorist acts between April and September last year.

The defendant closed his eyes as the verdict was delivered, then sat down with his head propped on his hand as members of his family wept in the nearby public gallery.

The youth, from Rugby, Warwickshire, told the court he had not intended any act of terrorism, and “had existed in an echo chamber” of far-right chat rooms.

At the start of a month-long re-trial, prosecutor Matthew Brook said the evidence showed the teenager wanted to create a firearm capable of “smashing heads” after joining the so-called Feuerkrieg Division (FKD).

The youth, who was convicted on Friday, saw his original trial halted in March due to the national Covid-19 lockdown.

In his opening speech to jurors, Mr Brook said the boy had praised the terrorist who carried out a mass shooting last year in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 51 people at two mosques.

Mr Brook told the jury panel: “In this case, the evidence will prove that the defendant became radicalised so he fully believed in extreme right-wing ideology.

“He came to believe an ideology which thinks a race war is coming, an ideology which believes its followers should bring about a race war, should accelerate its start, so that the white race can become supreme.

“He came to believe in an ideology which praises terrorists who carry out mass shootings, like the Christchurch shootings in New Zealand, and called the perpetrators of such terrorist massacres ‘saints’.”

The court was told that the boy, who had admitted possessing documents likely to be useful to a terrorist, researched how to convert a blank-firing gun and had offered advice to members of neo-Nazi chat groups.

Jurors also heard the youth was admitted to an online neo-Nazi grouping after completing a “test” survey in which he expressed a hatred for Jews.

In one series of chatroom messages, the defendant said he was an administrator for a group named League of Nationalists, which was “probably” not going anywhere, but added: “Whatever happens I’m going to have a local unit.

“I’m working on the propaganda and the weapons. I need men.”

Following the youth’s arrest last September, it emerged he had asked an adult friend for advice on where he could buy a blank-firing gun.

In interviews conducted around a fortnight after his home was raided, he was asked to explain gun-making instructions found on his phone, and knives and a home-made gun stock seized from his bedroom.

A rubber “practice” knife, a face-mask featuring an image of a skull, and a piece of aluminium pipe were also recovered, along with sketches of gun designs.

Mr Brook said of the boy’s exchanges with other members of neo-Nazi forums: “They had discussed their extreme dislike for some racial groups and he had also talked to them about making firearms and specifically about using blank-firing guns as a basis to build functional weapons.

“He said to the police that he had held right-wing views for a number of years, but he had recently been talking to more extreme people.

“He claimed that, although he had been discussing with these people about converting guns, it had in fact all been a fantasy and he had not done anything in the real world.

“When asked to put himself on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being, in the police’s words, ‘full-on Nazi Hitler’ – when asked to put himself on that scale – he said he was a nine to 10.”

Judge Paul Farrer QC remanded the defendant in custody until a sentencing hearing on November 6.

He told the boy’s barrister: “There’ll have to be a sentencing exercise to embrace not only this count but also the other nine charges he pleaded guilty to in relation to the nine expedient documents – the terrorism documents, as within the Terrorism Act.

“He’s still only 17 years old, he was 16 at the relevant time.

“While the nature of the sentence may be inevitable, the court is going to benefit from having some input from the youth offending team.”

Birmingham Mail

 

A man accused of storing grenades, mines and chemical weapons at his farm had an interest in Nazi Germany and white supremacy, a court has heard.

Russell Wadge was charged after counter-terrorism police raided his property in Trimsaran, Carmarthenshire.

Newport Crown Court heard large stocks of chemicals found in June 2019, “could kill or injure” when combined.

Mr Wadge, 58, denies 28 charges of possessing explosive devices and chemical weapons.

The court heard Mr Wadge “proudly admitted” making hydrogen cyanide, “one of the most rapidly acting poisons known to man”.

‘Cyanide in freezer’

Tom Little QC, prosecuting, said: “We need to consider the B – word – not Boris but Brexit.

“There were those frustrated by the delays to the Brexit process who were agitating, but they did not have access to this range of chemicals.”

He said hydrogen cyanide was discovered in the freezer, and a pint-glass containing a liquid with a sticker indicating poison was found “between the salad cream and ginger beer” in the fridge.

The jury heard internet searches showed significant interest in the white supremacist terror attack in New Zealand in 2019.

When questioned by police, Mr Wadge said he did not believe in any extremism and had a “keen interest” in chemistry.

However, Mr Little said: “This is not a case about naïve enthusiasm in chemistry – we say it is so much more.”

The jury heard books describing how to make improvised plastic explosives, three jars of gunpowder and the ingredients to make a “very dangerous explosive” called TATP (triacetone triperoxide), as used in the Manchester Arena bombing, were found.

Boxes of grenades, mines and scale drawings of a KGB weapon to deploy hydrogen cyanide were also discovered and Mr Wadge had researched an antidote, Mr Little said.

The prosecution said the accused man told police, “if it’s dodgy or poison, I love it” and sought out restricted information for “the thrill or buzz of it”.

Mr Wadge earlier admitted five charges of unlawful possession of poisonous chemicals without a licence.

The trial continues.

BBC News

Harry Vaughan, 18, arrested by police during a probe into website Fascist Forge
Detectives found memory stick in his bedroom with details of 128 other accounts
Court documents say there was content linked to an American neo-Fascist book
Some was found on USB with Tiffin School in London logo, where Vaughan went

A former pupil at an elite grammar school has admitted downloading and distributing bomb-making manuals.

Harry Vaughan, 18, was arrested by police during a probe into a website named Fascist Forge, which calls itself a ‘home for the 21st century fascist’.

Detectives found a memory stick in his bedroom with details of 128 other internet accounts, including one for System Resistance Network, which supports white supremacy and attacks immigration and gay rights.

Court documents revealed there was also content linked to an American neo-Fascist book called Siege and neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic and Satanic material.

Some of it was found on a USB stick carrying the logo of Tiffin School, the grammar Vaughan had attended in Kingston, south-west London.

When he was arrested last June he was studying for A-levels in maths and computer science and was said to be among Tiffin’s best performing pupils.

The school, which counts former England cricket captain Alec Stewart among former pupils, accepts just 140 students a year from 1,300 applicants. It boasts that 85 per cent of its A-level grades are between A* and B.

Police discovered that in January last year, when Vaughan was just 16, he had published three images and a message on Fascist Forge that were intended to encourage terrorism.

He also published two links on the website to a publication called Wrong Hand: popular weapons manuals and their historic challenges to a democratic society.

Police discovered a wealth of terrorist material on his computers, including a manual with chapters on murder, rape, kidnap, arson and bombing.

He also had documents showing how to make ‘new and improved’ C-4 and Semtex plastic explosives and how to construct a homemade detonator.

Further searches of his electronic devices revealed he had downloaded two indecent photographs of children between April 13 and June 14, 2019.

Vaughan, who lives in Twickenham with his parents and two younger sisters, was charged on March 11 this year.

He appeared at Westminster Youth Court yesterday to plead guilty to 12 counts of possessing documents useful for terrorism, two counts of encouraging terrorism and two counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Addressing the teenager’s parents at the back of the court, chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot said: ‘It is a nightmare situation for parents but it is important that you are here to support him.’ Vaughan will appear at the Old Bailey for sentencing on October 2.

His bail conditions state he is not permitted to delete the internet history on any digital device or to create a social media profile under any name other than his own.

He has to share his browsing history and passwords with police and may not share extreme Right-wing ideology.

And he is not allowed to possess or use any digital device capable of accessing the internet save for a nominated digital device and his family’s smart TV.

Daily Mail

The man behind the plot to blackmail Tesco for £1.4m by contaminating jars of baby food was a Ukip MP candidate and a Grimsby Conservative chairman

The man at the centre of the biggest blackmail investigation in the UK is a former North East Lincolnshire councillor and Ukip parliamentary candidate, it can be revealed.

Sheep farmer Nigel Wright is facing up to 14 years in jail for blackmailing Tesco over baby food contaminated with shards of metal.

He represented Freshney ward in Grimsby after winning the seat in 2003, campaigning to reduce crime and the fear of it.

Previously he served as the chairman of the Great Grimsby Conservative Association, when he was the youngest ever to be appointed to the position at the age of 29.

Wright switched to Ukip and stood for the Brigg and Goole Constituency in 2010

But at The Old Bailey on Thursday, the former Healing farmer was convicted of contaminating jars of baby food with shards of metal in an elaborate blackmail of superstore giant, Tesco.

He demanded £1.4 million in Bitcoin from the retailer in return for information about where he had hidden the jars.

Wright, 45, and a married, father of two is facing up to 14 years in prison for his actions.

A sheep farmer in Market Rasen for the past 10 years, living at Pine Meadows, Caistor Road, Wright, denied the charges, but was convicted by jury of two counts of contaminating goods and three counts of blackmail. He claimed he was threatened by a group of travellers.

The court heard two mothers found the metal fragments when they were feeding their children after Wright began his two-year campaign in the spring of 2018.

He threatened to inject tins of fruit with cyanide and salmonella unless the supermarket giant handed over the cash in Bitcoin.

Wright signed off his emails and letters ‘Guy Brush & the Dairy Pirates + Tinkerbell the naughty fairy,’ and claimed he represented dairy farmers who had been underpaid by Tesco.

He triggered two nationwide recalls on both Cow & Gate and Heinz baby food as a result of the threats, prompting the supermarket to clear 140,000 products from the shelves.

A detective posed as a Tesco employee named Sam Scott and handed over £100,000 in the crypto-currency to trap the blackmailer.

Wright was caught on CCTV buying wine and flowers for his wife after placing a contaminated jar on the shelves of a Tesco branch in Lockerbie in Scotland on November 29 last year.

He also placed two jars of contaminated food on the shelves of a Rochdale shop.

Prosecutor Julian Christopher, QC, said the blackmailer took ‘delight’ in his extravagant plan to outsmart the supermarket giant.

He believed he could ‘get rich’ without leaving any trace of his identity by using the bitcoin cryptocurrency and downloading the browser Tor allowing for anonymous communication.

But his emails and letters were forwarded onto police and he was soon unwittingly interacting with an undercover officer.

A draft of an email to Tesco was found on one of Wright’s devices after his property was searched. The threat read: “Imagine a baby’s mouth cut open blood pouring out and the inside of their belly cut and bleeding.”

He was remanded in custody ahead of sentence due to take place at a date to be fixed after pre-sentence reports are prepared.

The sentencing next month at The Old Bailey is a world away from his respected role as the Conservative councillor for Freshney ward, which he won in 2003 along with businessman Paul Brewster and fellow councillor Peter Bellini.

Campaigning for the Freshney ward, aged 28, he said: “My aim is to make the community a clean and safer place, where children can play happily and people do not fear to venture out after dark.”

Wright campaigned for better flood defences in 2007. At his farm at Healing thousands of pounds worth of crops were devastated in floods. A prize ewe he owned drowned, but he managed to save a flock of around 50 of his sheep. Silage from a nearby turkey farm had contaminated flood water.

His animals were again in the news when one of his rams was killed by a dog. Wright called on all dog owners to ensure their pets were kept on a lead after that incident.

Having lost the seat at a later election, he then stood for the Conservatives in Heneage ward in Grimsby in May 2007, but only secured 435 votes.

He told voters he was fan of Road Wars and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. He campaigned to reduce crime and fear of it.

In a debate about school exclusions he said school should not have their hands tied in order to expel unruly kids. He also expressed outrage when there was an arson attack on bales of straw near his then farm on Marsh Lane, Healing.

When someone shot a swan on the River Freshney he told the Grimsby Telegraph “Unfortunately there are people out and about who take pleasure out of doing this” and he called for people to be “more responsible.”

In a debate in the council chamber about nuisance tenants he said it was essential to monitor behaviour and also to take preventative action.

He campaigned with Councillor Bellini to support police to get tough with gangs “terrorising the streets of Willows and Wybers” and branded them “a mindless minority.”

He also served on the Humberside Fire Authority.

The current Conservative Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Councillor Philip Jackson said: “Clearly what he has done is wrong and I would not defend anything he has done, not for a moment.”

Operation Hancock, as the investigation was codenamed, has been the largest blackmail inquiry ever conducted in the UK and was led by Hertfordshire Assistant Chief Constable Bill Jephson, who said: “Throughout this investigation, our key focus was to safeguard the public and identify the individual or group involved as they clearly had no concern for the impact of their actions.

“I want to extend my sincere thanks to all those officers, specialist law enforcement units and agencies who gave of their best in what was often a fast-moving and challenging investigation where no stone was left unturned. This was truly a partnership response which also involved close collaboration with the victim companies who were highly responsive and operationally supportive throughout.”

Assistant Chief Constable Jephson added: “Through the determined efforts of so many dedicated professionals, a dangerous offender is now facing the justice he deserves. I hope the conviction of Nigel Wright will serve as a deterrent to anyone who thinks blackmail is a viable criminal option. The resources available to law enforcement to respond to threats of this nature are significant as crimes like this will simply not be tolerated.”

Grimsby Telegraph

A SALTBURN man has been jailed for pushing a police officer down a flight of stairs during an anti-Black Lives Matter protest in London.

Jamie Dewing, 31, of Valley View, Saltburn was sentenced to two years in prison at Teesside Crown Court today (Tuesday).

He had previously appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, July 8 where he admitted one count of assaulting an emergency service worker and one count of violent disorder.

He had been remanded in custody by the court awaiting sentence.

On June 13, Dewing had travelled from Saltburn to join hundreds of demonstrators protesting in Parliament Square.

Very early into the day, a small minority of demonstrators, including Dewing, became increasingly hostile to police officers.

At around 1pm, Dewing fronted up to officers who were policing the crowds near to the Nelson Mandela statue.

Officers had made their way there to retrieve from the crowd a woman from the opposing Black Lives Matter protest, as there was serious concerns for her wellbeing.

Officers were taking the woman to safety and were moving away from the crowd, when Dewing violently shoved the female police officer.

As a result, she fell backwards down steps and onto her back, causing injury to her back and neck and although she has returned to duty she is still receiving physiotherapy.

Dewing’s violent behaviour didn’t stop there, and throughout the rest of the day he was caught on camera acting aggressively, including throwing items such as a metal barrier at officers and repeatedly spitting at officers at cordons along Whitehall.

As part of the investigation, his image was released to the media by the Metropolitan Police and he was identified by an officer from Cleveland Police.

DC Nicky Dixon, part of the investigation team, said: “Dewing assaulted an officer who was only trying to protect a member of the public. This officer braved a hostile crowd to carry out the rescue of someone who was vulnerable. Having come to the woman’s aid, the officer was moving away when Dewing assaulted her. There is no excuse for this or his later actions, it was just thuggery.

“I’d like to thank Cleveland Police for their help in identifying Dewing. When arrested he initially denied that he was responsible, but officers had gathered extensive evidence. When faced with the overwhelming evidence against him, he pleaded guilty and has rightly been sent to prison.”

Northern Echo