Two men behind a neo-Nazi podcast series that encouraged listeners to commit violent acts of terror against ethnic minorities were jailed on Thursday, UK police said.
Christopher Gibbons, 40, and Tyrone Patten-Walsh, 36, both from London, were convicted of terrorism offenses last July following a trial in the British capital, the Metropolitan Police said.
They aired “homophobic, racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic and misogynistic views,” as well as encouraging listeners to commit violent terrorist acts, it added.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police identified the duo as the hosts and producers of 21 episodes of what it described as a “neo-Nazi podcast series.”
The police probe also found that Gibbons had created an online library containing hundreds of “extreme right-wing texts and other material.”
He was sentenced to eight years in prison for eight counts of encouraging acts of terrorism, and two counts of dissemination of terrorist publications.
Patten-Walsh was sentenced to seven years in prison for eight counts of encouraging acts of terrorism.
“The material that Gibbons and Patten-Walsh shared is exactly the kind that has the potential to draw vulnerable people, particularly young people, into terrorism,” the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism commander Dominic Murphy said.
“I hope this case and today’s sentencing sends a clear message that there are serious consequences for those who share terrorist material or encourage others to become involved in terrorism.”
Gibbons’ neo-Nazi online library held more than 500 videos of extreme right-wing-related speeches and propaganda documents, according to the police.
There were nearly 1,000 subscribers, and the content had been viewed more than 152,000 times, the force said.
Specialist officers assessed the library and podcast episodes and found some of the material breached UK anti-terror laws, it added.
They identified seven videos and a further document that, as well as containing extremist views, included “particular imagery, rhetoric or information that encouraged others to carry out terrorist acts.”
Detectives arrested the pair in May 2021 and three months later charged them with various terrorism offenses.