Neo-Nazi teenager admits encouraging terror attacks with propaganda poster campaign

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A 16-year-old boy became a neo-Nazi propagandist and encouraged terror attacks from his London bedroom, a court has heard.

Harry Vaughan joined System Resistance Network (SRN), a spin-off of National Action which has since been banned, in 2018 and also made posters with the logo of the Sonnenkrieg Division neo-Nazi group.

He admitted 14 terror offences, including encouraging terrorism, and two of downloading indecent images of children that were linked to occult beliefs and Satanism.

The “A* student”, who is now 18, created violent anti-Muslim and antisemitic posters while describing himself as a national socialist and “revolutionary” online.

The Old Bailey heard that in his application to join SRN, Vaughan said he believed the “whole system is so diseased that it needs to be destroyed”.

“The time for discussion is over, the time for action is now,” he wrote. “I can handle myself in a fight and there is nothing I wouldn’t do if I thought it was essential to the cause.”

Facing away from their son in the dock, Vaughan’s parents bowed their heads in court as the evidence was read out on Friday.

Prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds said he boasted to fellow neo-Nazis online that he had already been making his own posters to “spark tensions” in and around his school in Kingston, south-west London.

“Vaughan had an entrenched extreme right-wing racist mindset, as well as an interest in explosives, firearms and violence more generally,” he told the court on Friday.

“His posters endorse Nazism, violence, terrorism and acts by lone wolves.”

A specialist report concluded that the teenager followed a hybrid of occult “left-hand path” ideology and neo-Nazi accelerationism, which advocates terror attacks to bring about a race war.

Between early 2018 and his arrest in June 2019, he was active across online platforms including a forum dedicated to fascism, “free speech” social network Gab and Discord messaging service.

Vaughan created and spread neo-Nazi posters, including some featuring images of Auschwitz and guns, with SRN’s network and that of Sonnenkrieg Division.

He also created an “idiots’ guide” for fellow extremists wanting to make their own propaganda, which was inspired by the Siege ideology of American neo-Nazi James Mason.

The court heard the encouragement of terrorism charge was over three posters shared on the Fascist Forge forum, all with Sonnenkrieg Division’s logo, referencing hanging, arson and guns.

Vaughan admitted disseminating terrorist publications by directing forum users to an archive of viable instructions on creating homemade explosive devices and firearms.

He advised readers to encrypt the material and warned that they could be charged with the terror offences he was later prosecuted for.

“The feds can and will charge you if possible,” he wrote, calling material that other neo-Nazis had been jailed for as “like children's book in comparison”.

Vaughan also pleaded guilty to 12 counts of possessing documents of use to a terrorist, including on bomb-making, close combat techniques and building or adapting live-firearms.

He admitted two counts of downloading indecent images of children, which Mr Pawson-Pounds said were among a larger amount of material linked to the occult and Satanism.

All but two of more than 30 videos of children, including boys, had been deleted and had included the most serious category of child sex abuse images.

Vaughan was not charged with planning a terror attack himself, but Mr Pawson-Pounds said he had looked at online shopping websites for components including plastic pipes, and that evidence of his internet activity was limited.

Investigators managed to recover 4,200 images and 302 files that were all linked to extreme-right wing ideology, but Vaughan had made it impossible to access other material.

Mr Pawson-Pounds said Vaughan had used “sophisticated” techniques to conceal his online activity and delete files, including encryption, the dark web and rebooting his laptop’s operating system.

“He had researched terror laws and ongoing extreme right-wing court cases,” the prosecutor added.

“He demonstrated a key interest in and practical application of methods of avoiding detection and deleting material on his devices.”

Vaughan used aliases online but was arrested after a national counter terrorism operation identified him among individuals posting messages on an extremist website.

He was a student at the Tiffin boys’ grammar school in Kingston and was described as “an A* student”, the court heard.

During court proceedings, he achieved the top grade in four A-level subjects.

His father, Jake Vaughan, holds the senior position of Reading Clerk in the House of Lords and the court heard his son had “every advantage that could be afforded to him” in life.

Naeem Mian QC, for the defence, said Vaughan considered himself to have been “groomed” online through exposure to extremist material from the age of 14.

“His parents in court today have been asking themselves ‘why’?” he added, describing them as “bewildered”. “Frankly there is no simple answer.”

Mr Mian said a psychiatric report diagnosed him with high-functioning autism and a “deficiency in emotional intelligence”, which made him susceptible to influence from online groups.

“He disappeared down a rabbit hole of the internet and he was in a very dark place,” he added. “He has shown remorse and … stated that he no longer holds racist and homophobic views.”

Mr Justice Sweeney released Vaughan on conditional bail ahead of a sentencing hearing next Friday.

Commander Richard Smith, head of the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism command, said the case “illustrates it is possible for any young person to be susceptible to radicalisation”.

“I really want to appeal to everyone to be as vigilant as possible for signs that a young, loved one may be in trouble,” he added.

On this point, Commander Smith said, “If you are the person being radicalised, you may not realise it. You may be feeling confused, angry and alone … please reach out.”