Three men who were part of extreme right-wing group jailed for planning terror attack
Brogan Stewart, Christopher Ringrose and Marco Pitzettu were caught preparing a number of attacks when they were arrested
Last updated 17th Oct 2025
Three men who were part of an extreme right-wing online group have been jailed for a combined 29 years for planning a terror attack.
Brogan Stewart, 25, of Tingley, Marco Pitzettu, 25, from Derby and Christopher Ringrose, 34, from Cannock were found guilty in May of preparing to target mosques, Islamic Education centres and synagogues.
A jury at Sheffield Crown Court heard how the trio, who are not believed to have met in the real world before they appeared together in the dock, were preparing to use more than 200 weapons they had amassed, including machetes, swords, crossbows and an illegal stun gun.
Ringrose had also 3D-printed most of the components of a semi-automatic firearm at the time of his arrest and was trying to get the remaining parts.
In the first of a two-day sentencing hearing yesterday (Thursday 16th October 2025), prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC said that the three defendants were "followers of an extreme right-wing Nazi ideology".
He said: "They justified, encouraged and glorified serious violence against and killing of persons of other races (who were) effectively seen as inferior and unworthy of human dignity or indeed life.
"On more than one occasion each of the defendants expressed hatred for and desire and willingness to engage in serious violence against people they perceived as enemies of their cause,"
Mr Sandiford said each of the defendants showed an interest in material depicting mass killings, and by 2024 had acquired an arsenal of weapons capable of inflicting serious violence, and were actively seeking to acquire more deadly weapons such as firearms and improvised explosives.
The prosecutor said the trio styled themselves as an armed military group and that their behaviour escalated so that by early 2024 they were seeking further recruits.
The court heard that in January and February they were planning their first attack, which was to be the "first of a number of operations escalating in nature" and had identified a target, which the trial heard was an Islamic education centre in Leeds.
Mr Sandiford said the defendants had an "intention to commit acts of extremism which involved killing of multiple victims".
He told the court Stewart had a leading role and appointed the other two to their roles as "armourers", encouraging them to make or acquire firearms or explosives.
Sultana Tafadar KC, mitigating for Stewart, said many of the chats referred to by the prosecution were "pure fantasy". She said the defendant had experienced abuse and neglect as a child and had "unprocessed trauma".
In mitigation for Pitzettu, the court heard he had shown a positive outlook and attitude in prison, while Ringrose was said to have withdrawn from the group before they were arrested.
The trial heard the three men were arrested when security services believed an attack was imminent after undercover officers infiltrated their online group.
A nine-week trial heard how the group idolised Hitler and the Nazis, shared racist slurs and glorified mass murderers.
In May a jury rejected claims the defendants were fantasists with no intention of carrying out their threats and found Ringrose, of Cannock, Staffordshire, Pitzettu, of Mickleover, Derbyshire, and Stewart, of Tingley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, guilty of a charge of preparing acts of terrorism and charges of collecting information likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism.
Ringrose was also convicted of manufacturing a prohibited weapon.
Following the conviction of the three men, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley said:
“Stewart, Pitzettu, and Ringrose have today been rightfully convicted of multiple terrorism offences. They were a group that espoused vile racist views and advocated for violence, all to support their extreme right-wing mindset.
“Some of their defence in court was that it was all fantasy or just part of harmless chat, however all three took real world steps to plan and prepare for carrying out an attack on innocent citizens.
“Due to excellent collaborative work with our partners, we were able to infiltrate the group and arrest them before anyone was harmed.
“Counter Terrorism Policing work around the clock to prevent terrorism reaching our communities and we constantly advance our capabilities so that groups like this cannot hide.
“The public’s support is vital to our mission to keep people safe. If you hear or see anything that doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts and report it in confidence at gov.uk/ACT. You won’t be wasting our time. In an emergency, always call 999.”
Bethan David, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said:
“These extremists were plotting violent acts of terrorism against Synagogues, Mosques and Islamic Education Centres. By their own admission, they were inspired by SS tactics and supremacist ideology.
“Had Christopher Ringrose managed to completely finish building the 3-D printed semi-automatic firearm that he had started to, it could have been used leading to devastating consequences.
“The prosecution case against the defendants included their disturbing Telegram and Facebook chats as well as acquiring military equipment such as riot shields, body armour and an arsenal of weapons found at their home addresses that were to be used in readiness for a ‘race war’.
“We worked closely with Counter Terrorism Policing North East to prepare a strong case against the defendants, and the jury has today convicted them of their crimes. Extremism is a threat to our society and we will always aim to keep communities safe by seeking to prosecute anyone who prepares for acts of terrorism.”