4th January, 2024
Two London men, Christopher Gibbons and Tyrone Patten-Walsh have been jailed a total of 15 years for using a podcast series to encourage listeners to commit violent acts against ethnic minorities.
Their convictions followed an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, according to a release by the Metropolitan Police on Thursday.
Gibbons, 40 and Patten-Walsh, 36 both were identified by Met officers as being the hosts of a neo-Nazi online podcast.
“The pair aired their homophobic, racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic and misogynistic views, and on some occasions they encouraged listeners to commit acts of terrorist violence.
“The investigation found that Gibbons had also created an online library containing hundreds of extreme right-wing texts and other material.
“The content in the online library and podcast was assessed and some of the material was found to be in breach of terrorism legislation. Met detectives subsequently arrested the men in May 2021, and in August 2021 charged them with a number of terrorism offences.
“The men were convicted of all the charges against them following a trial at Kingston Crown Court which concluded on Friday, 7 July,” the Met Police said.
According to the police, on Thursday, 4 January, at the same court, Gibbons was sentenced to eight years in prison for eight counts of encouraging acts of terrorism, contrary to section one of the Terrorism Act 2006, and two counts of dissemination of terrorist publications, contrary to section two of the Terrorism Act 2006.
Patten-Walsh was sentenced to seven years in prison for eight counts of encouraging acts of terrorism.
The police added that both would also be subject to a 15-year-long Part 4 notification order and serve three years on license when they are released, to reduce their ability to cause further harm.
Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said the material that Gibbons and Patten-Walsh shared was exactly the kind that has the potential to draw vulnerable people – particularly young people – into terrorism.
Murphy said the police were determined to identify and hold to account individuals pushing this material, saying that in this case, officers reviewed hours-upon-hours of material to present a compelling case.
“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,” he said.
According to the police, officers identified that the duo had produced 21 episodes of the podcast, adding that Gibbons’ neo-Nazi online library was found by officers to have held more than 500 videos of extreme right-wing-related speeches and propaganda documents.
The police said it had nearly 1,000 subscribers, and the content had been viewed more than 152,000 times.
The Police explained that the videos and files were analysed by a team of specialist officers from the Met’s specialist Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit and they assessed that the material breached terrorism legislation.