A man has been jailed following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) in the U.K. for terrorism offenses.
Following a trial at Kingston Crown Court in March, Nicolas Brock of Lancaster Road, Maidenhead was found guilty of three counts of possession of materials likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The 52-year-old was sentenced on May 25 to a total of four years’ imprisonment. This was for each count, to run concurrently. He was also ordered to be on licence for one year.
These convictions come after Brock was arrested on September 13 2019. During a search of a residential property in Maidenhead, a number of electronic devices were seized.
Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, Head of CTPSE, said: “Brock was found to have collected material useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
“The material and the action of downloading or possessing this material is prohibited and a very serious offense. The material Brock had in his possession is dangerous and concerning.
“Some of the items found included a manual on how to make explosives and decommissioned weapons. He also had books which would provide techniques on how to fight, assisting someone who was potentially preparing a terrorist act.”
During a search of Brock’s bedroom, a large collection of collectable weapons, such as military replica knives and two decommissioned guns were recovered.
A number of electronic items were also seized, and upon further analysis of these it was found Brock had hundreds of folders which had information on Nazis and the world wars. He had also downloaded a number of racist images that were anti-Islam, anti-Semitic, and anti-immigration alongside material supportive of a white supremacy ideology, including images of the proscribed organisation National Action and photos of him posing with Nazi symbols.
It was also discovered that Brock had tattoos of various Nazi symbols on his body; a tattooed image of Rudolph Hess who was the deputy leader of the Nazi Party and a tattooed image of a German solider used by many extreme right-wing groups.
Other documents, items and downloads found, clearly demonstrated his extreme right-wing inspired ideology, which could have threatened the public’s safety and security if he wasn’t arrested by detectives.
Detectives believe Brock was likely to have been self-radicalized, browsing online, buying items and downloading these materials to enhance his skewed views.
His bedroom was full of items which were not only concerning, considering the manuals he had been downloading, but also went far beyond those of a legitimate military collector. During his trial these items were proved to be dangerous and illegal.
Det Chief Supt Barnes added: “Although it is likely Brock had extreme toxic views, these seem to have been enhanced over the last couple of years, leading to this investigation, his arrest and ultimately his imprisonment.”
Read more at Counter Terrorism Policing
