After being found guilty of firearms offenses, a neo-Nazi couple with four kids who purchased a 3D printer and attempted to construct a handgun in the family home were both sentenced to prison.
The weapon and materials to create bombs were discovered in the kitchen of Liam Hall, 31, and Stacey Salmon, 30, who resided on a council estate in Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Hall had “made” plastic pieces for the PG22 MkII gun using a 3D printer, which could then be put together with metal parts to make a useful and devastating weapon.
However, the couple testified in court that they were building rockets for their kids during lockdown when an electric hot plate with black powder residue that had been used to make explosives was discovered in the kitchen.
Hall received a six-year term from Sheffield Crown Court for both producing and possessing a firearm, while Salmon received a three-year sentence.
Hall’s best friend, Daniel Wright, 30, who lived on the adjacent street in Braithwaite, Keighley, and frequently visited the family home, helped them make the handgun.
Wright had enrolled in an encrypted chat channel that disseminated far-right information with the intention of radicalizing participants, including minors, and disseminating how to use weapons.
His possession of a cache of electronic publications, including terrorist manuals and books with comprehensive instructions on how to kill and make improvised explosive devices and weapons, as well as his production of a weapon earned him a 12-year prison sentence.
In order to help others produce the semi-automatic pistol-calibre carbine, a fourth guy, Samuel Whibley, 29, of Anglesey, North Wales, who controlled the chat channel frequented by Wright, had done research on how to make another gun dubbed the FGC-9 and had shared links and files online.
Eight counts of encouraging terrorism and distributing terrorist materials resulted in a ten-year prison sentence for him.
The four defendants were members of a “extreme fascist cell during the first four months of 2021,” according to Annabel Darlow, QC, who testified before Sheffield Crown Court.
The four members “embraced extreme right-wing ideology and applauded racist violence and slaughter,” she told the jurors.
On Salmon’s phone, images of her with a scarf around her face giving the Nazi salute and wearing a face mask with a skull print that was adopted by the extreme right were discovered.
Salmon emailed Wright a picture of a cake with the words “Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler” written in icing on it on April 20, 2021, the anniversary of Hitler’s birth. Wright published the picture on the Telegram chat group.
In court, Hall admitted to being a fascist but said he was “not an admirer” of the Nazis. He also admitted to believing that “international Jews own the media.”
When asked if he hated Jews, Hall responded, “No, a particular type of Jews – the bankers, the ruling class – but I wouldn’t suggest I hate them, it is a pretty harsh word, detest is enough.”
At Sheffield Crown Court, Salmon explained to the jury that she became interested in chemistry because she and her partner wanted to keep their kids in school while the country was on lockdown.
She said that the substances discovered in the kitchen were for building rockets since she had been interested in Elon Musk’s space program and had bought them on eBay.
Hall, a welder, planned to use the 3D printer to produce toys and, if he got skilled enough, sell them online, Salmon said. The pair spent £134 for the machine.
She said that she had been watching a lot of YouTube videos and had grown to loathe “Zionists” when questioned why she had written a message to Hall saying, “Love you heaps and hate the Jews.”
After Wright boasted about having the handgun for terrorism to an undercover police officer online, Hall and Wright were convicted guilty of producing the weapon and of possessing it for terrorism.
Hall and Salmon testified to the jury that the printed weapon was intended as a toy gun and did not function because the plastic was not strong enough, therefore they were found guilty of possessing it but cleared of having it for terrorist reasons.
Wright was, however, also found guilty of three counts of having terrorist information in his possession as well as one count of spreading terrorist publications.
Whibley was held responsible for seven acts of disseminating information and one act of supporting terrorism.
In a private online chat room, the four people, according to the police, “came together to share extreme right-wing views and propaganda, influence and indoctrinate others, and support the use of violence to achieve their cause.”
Head of Counter-Terrorism Policing North East Detective Chief Superintendent Peter Craig stated: “Today’s outcome emphasizes the seriousness of the offenses committed by these people.”
We put forth a lot of effort to find people who have extreme ideologies and pose a threat to the harmony and safety of our different populations.
“Anyone found to be involved in violent extremism in any form, including terrorist action, can expect to be recognized and brought before the courts.”
The four defendants’ ideas and ideologies were revolting and reprehensible, according to Nick Price, head of the CPS Counter-Terrorism Division.
“The information that they communicated with one another and on a public forum, as well as the attempt by two members to make firearms using a 3D printer, was extremely dangerous.”
“It is right that today they have been sentenced for their offenses,” the Counter-Terrorism Division stated. “The evidence given to establish that their thoughts and activities posed a threat to our society.”
Whibley had created the Oaken Hearth Telegram channel in early January 2021. Wright and Whibley, who had never met, used it.
The channel contained a closed group called Oaken Hearth Chat, which was only open to those who could complete a series of tests meant to determine their level of extreme right-wing ideology.
The channel was utilized by members of the extreme right-wing to spread propaganda, radicalize and indoctrinate followers, and give them the knowledge and inspiration needed to commit acts of terrorism.
Despite it being clear that some chat users were minors, Ms. Darlow testified before the court, “those involved in the process of radicalization and the frequent providing of comprehensive information on subjects including the fabrication of home-made weaponry” were not discouraged in any way.
Whibley chose the moniker “Black Sun Hydra” and posed for pictures in front of a picture of the black sun symbol, which was first used by the Nazi SS, dressed in a mask and holding a sizable battle knife.
Wright went by the German moniker “Gott Mit Uns,” which translates to “God is with us” and was inscribed on the belt buckles of Nazi soldiers during World War II.
The chat group hailed as “saints” radical right-wing murderers including Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people in Oklahoma with a truck bomb, Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway, and Brenton Tarrant, who slaughtered 51 worshippers in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
On January 18, 2021, Wright posted that “the day of the rope is coming guys.”
Whibley replied, “I can’t wait.” Enoch Powell, a politician who prophesied in 1968 that mass immigration from the poor world to the UK would end in “rivers of blood,” is mentioned in the phrase “We shall make Enoch Powell proud.”
The phrase “day of the rope” alludes to a legendary chapter in “The Turner Diaries” where mixed-race lovers are hung from lampposts.
On February 1, 2021, Wright made an online purchase from a website of a Remington WarHawk.22 inch scope, a bow, and a set of hunting arrow quiver tips for a total of £199.98.
On February 25, 2021, Whibley posted a document named “Prison Killing Techniques” to the conversation that had comprehensive instructions on anatomical targets, weapons, and homemade explosives.
On March 18, he added: “We need to move underground, develop numbers hard, and strike swiftly.” He also advised followers to get a knife, offering advice on several brands and providing pictures of a bushcraft knife and sheath.
The next day, he urged users to share pictures of their knives, and on April 30, he shared a photo of himself clutching a sizable knife with a serrated blade while wearing all-black clothing, a black balaclava, and a skull mask.
He was wearing apparel with the word “Hydra,” his Telegram login, and was posing in front of a backdrop with a black sun.
According to Ms. Darlow, “the obvious connotation was that he was prepared to commit severe violence in support of his philosophy.”
“Cool mother f***,” said Wright.