A 53-year-old man who lived with his mother and stockpiled neo-Nazi memorabilia faces jail after he was found guilty of terrorism offences for downloading a bomb-making manual and guides to knife fighting.
Nicholas Brock had a flag showing an eagle and swastika on the wall of his bedroom and a Nazi badge in a chest of drawers next to his bed in the three-bedroom mid-terraced house in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
Police raided his home in November 2018 connection with an unrelated investigation, for which he was never charged, while further material found on a laptop, phone and hard drive, Kingston Crown Court was told.
Police noted that Brock had tattoos of prominent Nazis from the 1930s and 1940s, along with runes and other symbols adopted by neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
A tattoo on his shoulder featured the Totenkopf skull and cross bones adopted by the Nazi SS which has since been used by the British neo-Nazi group Combat 18.
The same symbol was shown on a plaque on the bedroom wall.
Brock was found guilty of three charges of possessing information useful for terrorism.
The relevant documents were ‘The Anarchists’ Cookbook v.2000′ – which showed how to make grenades and plastic explosives – ‘Knife fighting techniques from Folsom Prison – put ’em down, take ’em out’ and ‘Kill or get killed.’
Knives and Nazi memorabilia filled Nicholas Brock’s room in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in what lawyers called ‘an eclectic mix of items, amongst them, items demonstrating an interest in extreme right wing and white supremacist ideology’
Emma Gargitter, prosecuting, said the room was ‘filled to the brim with an eclectic mix of items, amongst them, items demonstrating an interest in extreme right wing and white supremacist ideology.’
The room also included flyers for the National Front flyers with a letter to Mr Brock, addressed ‘Dear Patriot, Many thanks for your enquiry and interest in the National Front.’
There were books about the American white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, and another about Combat 18, while under the bed was a ‘certificate of recognition’ from the Klan.
Among the material on his electronic devices was a photograph of Brock posing in his bedroom, wearing a balaclava, and holding a large firearm, in front of the swastika flag, the prosecutor said.
Another photograph showed Brock in front of the confederate flag, wearing a cap with the words ‘Make America Great Again’, the slogan of the campaign for Donald Trump.
A short video apparently shot in Brock’s bedroom showed a Nazi flag being waved and a KKK figurine.
The Totenkopf skull and cross bones adopted by the Nazi SS was on display next a deactivated gun in Brock’s room, above a cushion covered in pictures of dogs and another shaped like a doughnut
A video in three parts showed unedited footage filmed by Brenton Tarrant as he shot 51 people dead at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019.
Other videos included KKK cross burnings, and one of the decapitation of a blindfolded man.
His hard drive included a folder labelled ‘Army-Military-Manuals’ what contained two manuals for an AK47 assault rifle, and others for US Army pistol training, and explosives, along with a copy of a document known as the ‘al-Qaeda manual’.
The last of the three documents included the words: ‘Even though there is no such thing as a silent kill with a knife, a sharp piece of metal through the neck at the base of the skull is one of the quickest killing methods at your disposal.’
Brock had images showing a number of anti-Muslim and other racist memes, Ms Gargitter said.
Among the material on his electronic devices was a video called ‘Hail Combat 18’ which featured men in balaclavas wearing sweatshirts with the words ‘Blood and Honour’ loading and using firearms, one of whom warned: ‘The war is coming.’
Other folders were labelled: ‘KKK’, ‘Enoch Powell’, ‘Knuckle Dusters’, and ‘Runes’ and a number had names referring to ‘WW2’ and the Nazis.
He had used his computer to search for the National Front, National Action – a proscribed right-wing terrorist group – the KKK and ‘racist photos’.
On a file called ‘tattoo ideas’ he had the logo of the banned right-wing terrorist group National Action.
Interviewed by the police, Brock claimed he was ‘not interested in rubbish like this’ and was a military collector ‘World War One, World War Two, the Falklands and the Gulf’.
Brock told police he was a ‘military collector’ who had an interest in weapons and ammunition from his time collecting Action Man figures as a child.
He also told detectives he had no interest in far-right groups and didn’t go out much because of his social anxieties.
Following his conviction, Det Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, head of Counter-Terrorism Policing South East said: ‘From the overwhelming evidence shown to the jury, it is clear Brock had material which demonstrates he went far beyond the legitimate actions of a military collector.
‘Brock has been found in possession of very dangerous and concerning material and will face the full consequences of this by the courts.’
He claimed that two men would sometimes come to play Play Station 2 games with him in his bedroom in the evenings. and one of them might have downloaded the material whilst he was out of the room ‘making a cup of tea or a sandwich.’
Police found one of the men who turned out to be an old schoolfriend who was confined to a wheelchair and had been almost bed-bound since 2014 as a result of a car accident.
He had never been to Brock’s home, had seen him only once since they left school and last spoke to him in 2017.
The excuse was ‘designed to send the police on a wild goose chase so that he could avoid having to answer detailed questions about how the material really got on to his hard drive, and why he had it,’ Ms Gargitter said.
He eventually claimed he had been referring to a second man with the same name but that was ‘an absurd attempt to wriggle out of the fact that his original lie had been exposed,’ the prosecutor said.
Ms Gargitter said: ‘Multiple examples of insignia, flags and other material associated with far-right groups, historical and contemporary, had been downloaded on to the devices, indicating a sympathy with those groups and their violent ideology.
‘There were also videos and imagery depicting the use or threat of extreme violence.
Brock told police he was a ‘military collector,’ who had an interest in weapons and ammunition from his time collecting Action Man figures as a child. He was convicted on three charges of possessing information useful for terrorism and will be sentenced on May 25
‘Mr Brock, now aged 53 and living in Maidenhead, with his mother, has no legitimate reason for possessing such information. He is not, for example, an academic, or a self-defence specialist.
‘These are not everyday items or collectible memorabilia, but publications which contain detailed advice on how to create explosive devices, on how to kill and how to maim.
‘They may of course be of use to someone planning any kind of violent attack; and they would certainly be of use to someone planning a terrorist attack.’
Edward Butler, defending, told the jury: ‘Some of the material we have viewed and the allegations against Mr Brock are unpleasant and appalling.
‘You may well think that this is not the kind of man you’d want to go for a pint with, or that he spends far too much time on his computer.
‘But this is not enough evidence to suggest that Mr Brock is a terrorist, or in any way does it prove that he was going to commit a terror attack, and that’s what you have to consider.’
Brock will be sentenced on May 25.
The Recorder of Richmond, Judge Peter Lodder QC, remanded him into custody ahead of that date.
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