Bath man found guilty of right wing terror offences
Elliot Brown shared a video describing how to make an explosive, on a right wing group chat
Last updated 16th Jan 2023
A man from Bath has been found guilty of right wing terror offences after a week long trial at Bristol Crown Court.
Elliot Brown, who is 25 and originally from Swansea in Wales, was accused of possessing and disseminating terrorist material, after he filmed himself asking his Alexa device how to make thermite and then posted the answer on a right wing group chat.
Just days later another member of the group, Dean Morrice from Paulton, went out and bought the ingredients to make the explosive.
The jury spent more than seven hours deliberating on their decision.
What happened in court?
During the trial, we heard how Brown had moved to Bath from Wales for university and described himself as both educated and middle class.
We heard he had a strong interest in politics and military history and developed extreme right wing views after joining UKIP as a teenager, eventually ending up in a group chat on the encrypted messaging service Telegram, called "Dart Heads".
We heard how those in the chat regularly shared extreme views including the need for a race war and neo-nazi slogans.
In June 2020, shortly after the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in the United States, Brown posted saying, "it's happening, the race war is here," while another said that "the time for action" would come soon.
However, in court while giving his own evidence, Brown suggested he posted such things in a bid to gain the approval of the others and that he adopted a different persona in the group.
He said he no longer held such views, that he now considered them "abhorrent" and that he only shared the Alexa video after seeing on Facebook that it would answer the question about thermite, which he found funny.
Brown added he did not consider sharing it illegal, questioning why Alexa would answer the question if sharing it could be considered a terrorist act.
Summing up the defence case, barrister Oliver Weetch told the jury Brown was just "playing around with Alexa" in the way people do "all the time".
Mr Weetch argued it was not surprising Brown did not think he had done anything wrong.
The prosecution though, fronted by Naomi Parsons, said that considering the context of the group, the fact it was encrypted and discussions on it were regularly extremely racist, Brown either knew or should have known that someone may act on the information.
Brown's arrest
Brown was arrested in February 2021 after his Alexa video was found by police on a phone owned by Dean Morrice.
During his police interviews Brown told officers he had never held extreme views and merely had a dark sense of humour, which at trial, the prosecution said was a lie, in an attempt to get himself out of trouble.
He added he had not thought anyone would actually buy the ingredients, saying doing so, "would be a very stupid thing to do".
In reality Morrice had bought them all just three days after Brown had shared the video and when police raided Morrice's home, they found enough to make more than half a kilogram of the explosive.
Morrice has since been sentenced to 23 years in prison.
On hearing Brown's verdict, Detective Superintendent Craig McWhinnie, Head of Counter Terrorism Police South West (CTPSW) said: “Elliot Brown was not just seeking to explore an interest in extremist related materials.
"The video he produced and thought appropriate to share with people harbouring similar abhorrent views will understandably shock people.
“While there is no evidence that Brown planned to commit any terrorist attack, his actions went beyond just casual talk and are a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act.”
Superintendent Steve Kendall, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: “People like Elliot Brown, who hold extremist views, can live absolutely anywhere and although these instances are rare, they remind us we all need to be vigilant.
“Our number one priority is always public safety and that’s why we work so closely with our counter terrorism partners and other agencies.
"We will always work tirelessly to root out offenders such as Brown.
“If you are concerned about someone’s behaviour please contact us.
"We will be able to help with support, and where necessary, take appropriate action.”
Brown will be sentenced tomorrow (January 17).