Far-Right fanatic jailed over hoard of terror manuals
He downloaded bomb-making guide
a FAR-RIGHT extremist who downloaded ‘sinister, violent and disturbing’ terror manuals has been jailed for two years.
david dudgeon, 43, had books and videos on beheadings, Holocaust denial and how to make explosives.
His stash included the infamous anarchist Cookbook – which outlines how to create bombs – and advice on making biological weapons.
dudgeon, from Prestonpans, east lothian, previously admitted possessing material useful to committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
sentencing him at edinburgh, sheriff Court yesterday, sheriff michael o’Grady, QC, said the case was ‘concerning and unusual’, adding: ‘The websites you accessed and the material you gleaned from them were sinister, violent and disturbing.’
dudgeon was sentenced to two years in prison, backdated to april 1. He will be supervised for 12 months after his release.
dudgeon was detained after his psychiatrist raised ‘concerns he posed a threat to public safety’.
officers searched his home in march of this year and seized computer equipment. His inter net history showed he had visited websites of ‘an extreme right-wing nature’, prosecutor emma mitchell told the court.
some pages featured Islamic state murder videos and Christian fundamentalism, while others were about former english defence league founder Tommy robinson. dudgeon also had booklets with titles including deadly Knife Fighting Techniques revealed.
yesterday, dudgeon’s solicitor, lesley Cunningham, said her client had been ‘struggling for some time with paranoid thoughts’ and had been living a ‘fairly isolated existence’.
she added that he had stopped taking his medication around the time he downloaded the material, and viewed it only on that same day. she also told how he had become ‘fixated on conspiracy theories’.
dudgeon pleaded guilty to an offence under the Terrorism act at edinburgh sheriff Court in June. He admitted possessing texts, manuals, booklets, leaflets and video relating to the production of chemical and biological weapons and techniques for knife-fighting. He also confessed to having electronic copies of terror-related documents between march 6, 2013, and march 29 this year.
Police scotland said it would ‘investigate any offences linked to terrorism with the utmost seriousness to bring those involved to justice’.
‘Sinister, violent and disturbing’