The co-founder of proscribed organisation National Action has today (7 June) been jailed for eight and a half years.
A jury at Winchester Crown Court heard 27-year-old Alex Davies, from Swansea, set up the group with Ben Raymond in 2013. They aimed to create a National Socialist, or neo-Nazi, youth movement in the UK, describing themselves as a “white jihadist group”.
They modelled themselves on Nazi SS stormtroopers and toured the country joining flash demonstrations, which often turned violent.
In York in May 2016 Davies was seen shouting into a megaphone in front of a banner containing the words “Refugees not welcome: Hitler was right.”
By December of the same year National Action became the first far-right organisation to be banned by the government since the Second World War, but its members continued to meet in secret using encrypted messaging platforms to communicate.
Davies, a previous BNP Youth member, was known as a recruiter for the group and personally vetted people to establish how useful they could be. He was extremely careful around security and travelled hundreds of miles, preferring to meet in person rather than risk written communication.
He went on to set up a splinter group – NS 131 – in the spring of 2017. This too was banned just a few months later.
Following a lengthy investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing officers in the West Midlands (CTP WM CTU), Davies last month became the 19th person to be convicted of membership of the banned far-right organisation National Action, following the conviction of fellow co-founder Raymond last November.
Davies was sentenced at the Old Bailey today (7 June), and will spend an extra year on licence after the eight-and-a-half year sentence finishes.
Detective Superintendent Anthony Tagg, from CTP WM CTU, said: “Our officers have worked tirelessly to secure convictions of men who posed a significant threat to communities across the country.
“They were not merely armchair terrorists, they actively planned a race war. They recruited from positions of trust – the military and the police.
“They stockpiled weapons, and researched explosives and bomb-making. They trained their members in boxing, martial arts and knife fighting.
“Extremists use this kind of ideology to create discord, distrust and fear among our communities and we strive to counter this. I would encourage people to report hate crime to us and it will be taken seriously.
“As a result of these investigations, we have seen a significant increase of right-wing referrals to our Prevent programme.”
Detective Superintendent Gareth Rees is the Extreme Right Wing Terrorism lead for the national Counter Terrorism Policing network, he said:
“The conviction of Alex Davies demonstrates policing’s commitment to pursue those who seek to spread fear and spark dissent in our communities.
“Since the proscription of National Action in 2016, officers across the country have worked tirelessly to identify individuals who continue to engage with, and further, the toxic and dangerous ideology of this terrorist group.
“The work of the Counter Terrorism Policing network has led to a significant number of convictions for membership of National Action, and I hope that the sentences served by the courts are a warning to those who may be tempted into such activity in the future.
“Today’s conviction is a significant moment in our efforts to dismantle National Action and ensure its founders, members, and those who support this proscribed group are brought to justice, however it does not signal the end of our work.
“Our proactive efforts to confront the threat posed by Extreme Right Wing Terrorism continue.”
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