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National Action: Men jailed for joining banned neo-Nazi group National Action: Men jailed for being members of banned neo-Nazi group
(35 minutes later)
Two men have been found guilty of being members of banned neo-Nazi group National Action.Two men have been found guilty of being members of banned neo-Nazi group National Action.
Christopher Lythgoe, 32, from Warrington, and Matthew Hankinson, 24, from Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, were convicted at the Old Bailey after a trial lasting more than five weeks. Christopher Lythgoe, 32, of Warrington, and Matthew Hankinson, 24, of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, were convicted after a trial lasting over five weeks.
Lythgoe has been jailed for eight years and Hankinson for six years. Lythgoe was jailed for eight years and Hankinson for six.
National Action was proscribed in December 2016 after it was assessed as being "concerned in terrorism". Earlier in the trial, another man, Jack Renshaw, 23, of Skelmersdale, Lancs, admitted preparing an act of terrorism after buying a machete.
Earlier that year, the group had celebrated the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a white supremacist, which the government said amounted to the unlawful glorification of terrorism. He admitted buying it for the purpose of murdering West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper.
Machete purchase A total of six men were on trial at the Old Bailey, accused of being members of National Action.
On the first morning of the trial, Jack Renshaw, 23, of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to preparing an act of terrorism by buying a machete for the purpose of murdering West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper. 'Perverted ideology'
Lythgoe, the National Action leader, was found not guilty of encouragement to murder for allegedly giving him permission to kill Ms Cooper on behalf of the group. Lythgoe, the National Action leader, was found not guilty of encouragement to murder for allegedly giving Renshaw permission to kill Ms Cooper on behalf of the group.
Renshaw also admitted threatening to kill Det Con Victoria Henderson, who was investigating him for other matters.Renshaw also admitted threatening to kill Det Con Victoria Henderson, who was investigating him for other matters.
Mr Justice Jay said group meetings after the ban were attempting to keeping alive an aspiration which was "truly insidious and evil: the idea that this country should be purged of its ethnic minorities and its Jews; that the rule of law should be subverted; and that once the ideological revolution had taken place this national socialist world view would triumph".
Sentencing Lythgoe, he said: "You are a fully-fledged neo-Nazi replete with concomitant deep-seated, entrenched racism and anti-Semitism."
The judge told Hankinson: "You too are a neo-Nazi who glorifies and revels in a perverted ideology, has a deep hatred of ethnic minorities and Jews and has advocated violence to achieve your objectives."
Racial hatred conviction
Jurors were unable to decide either whether Renshaw had remained a member of National Action after it was banned, or whether two other men - Michal Trubini, 35, from Warrington and Andrew Clarke, 33, from Prescot, Merseyside - were guilty of the same charge.Jurors were unable to decide either whether Renshaw had remained a member of National Action after it was banned, or whether two other men - Michal Trubini, 35, from Warrington and Andrew Clarke, 33, from Prescot, Merseyside - were guilty of the same charge.
Another defendant - Garron Helm, 24, from Seaforth in Merseyside - was found not guilty of being a member of the group.Another defendant - Garron Helm, 24, from Seaforth in Merseyside - was found not guilty of being a member of the group.
Racial hatred conviction
It can also now be reported that Renshaw was convicted earlier this year of two counts of stirring up racial hatred in speeches he made in 2016.It can also now be reported that Renshaw was convicted earlier this year of two counts of stirring up racial hatred in speeches he made in 2016.
National Action, which was founded in 2013, was the first extreme right-wing group to be banned in the UK.National Action, which was founded in 2013, was the first extreme right-wing group to be banned in the UK.
It was proscribed in December 2016 after it was assessed as being "concerned in terrorism".
Earlier that year, the group had celebrated the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a white supremacist, which the government said amounted to the unlawful glorification of terrorism.