Swindon teenager found guilty of sharing weapons manuals and terrorist documents
Malakai Wheeler, from Toothill, was convicted of six charges at Winchester Crown Court today.
Last updated 14th Sep 2023
A Swindon teenager has been found guilty of downloading and sharing terrorism documents.
Malakai Wheeler, from Toothill, was convicted of six charges at Winchester Crown Court today.
Whilst studying for his A-Levels, Wheeler was pitctured doing Nazi salutes, and sharing instructions online about how to make weapons.
He had a copy of the Terrorist Handbook, as well as a document called Homemade Detonators.
The 18-year-old also admitted using a Nazi symbol in his profile image on a social media platform.
Judge Jane Miller KC confirmed Wheeler will be face time behind bars for his offences.
Explaining why he downloaded instructions on how to make weapons, he said they could have been useful in the case of "social disorder".
He said: "Weapons could be useful if there was a serious emergency. Covid showed things could come out of the blue. It could be an economic problem or a foreign invasion - things can just pop out of nowhere."
Wheeler also said he accessed a file called 100 Deadly Skills because he felt they could have been useful - with their descriptions of techniques to escape from a hotel or "stop yourself from drowning if you were tied up in the water".
He said he read one of the documents, Allied Sabotage Devices, because of a "historical interest" in the Second World War and found it "mildly interesting".
He also admitted downloading a file called Werewolves Of The Third Reich, a reference to a division of the SS in the war.
And he accepted being photographed in a skull mask and doing a Nazi salute.
Describing his links to national socialism, he said: "I have an interest and sympathy with some of it but not all of it."
He denied being a white supremacist.
Wheeler said he accessed videos from the terrorist group calling itself Islamic State, which showed people being killed, out of "morbid curiosity", adding: "It's not something you see in every day life."
Judge Jane Miller KC adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be prepared on the defendant and remanded him in custody until November 3, when he will be sentenced.
She told Wheeler: "I am afraid this will be a custodial sentence although you were 16 when you committed these offences."
Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: "Although only 16 at the time of his arrest, Wheeler was deeply entrenched in a Telegram chat group committed to extreme right-wing ideology.
"He was not simply curious, or a passive observer within the group. He clearly shared the same mindset as other members and was very active when it came to promoting racist and antisemitic views and propaganda.
"It is important young people recognise the potential impact of their online activity, before they cross a line into criminality, or engage in harmful or dangerous behaviours."