Constable becomes first convicted as member of neo-Nazi terror group

Apoliceman has become the first serving British officer to be convicted of belonging to a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation.

PC Ben Hannam, 22, was found guilty of membership of banned right-wing extremist group National Action (NA) following a trial at the Old Bailey.

He was also convicted of lying on his application and vetting forms to join the Metropolitan Police and having terror documents detailing knife combat and making explosive devices.

A jury had deliberated for more than 32 hours to find Hannam guilty yesterday.

Judge Anthony Leonard QC lifted a ban on reporting the case after Hannam admitted possessing an indecent image of a child, which was to have been the subject of a separate trial.

Hannam had been working as a probationary officer for the Metropolitan Police for nearly two years before he was found on a leaked database of users of extreme right-wing forum Iron March.

He had signed up to the forum when he joined the London branch of neo-Nazi group NA in March 2016.

Commander Richard Smith, head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said it was a “unique” case.

He said: “Ben Hannam obviously lied on his application form to join the Met. He would never have been able to join had we known then of his interest in the extreme right wing and his previous membership of National Action.”

The ideology of NA was described in court as based on “Aryan purity” and hatred of Jews and nonwhite groups.

Members venerated Adolf Hitler as a “divine figure” and celebrated violence, including war and genocide, the court heard.

Hannam tried to recruit a new member via Iron March. He told him most NA guys agreed the “Hitler was right” slogan was “a bit too edgy” but added: “Then again it is pretty funny and we all know our stance on the big man.”

At the NA national conference in Liverpool in April 2016, Hannam posed in an official photograph on Crosby Beach.

On December 16 2016, NA was proscribed after it glorified the murder of MP Jo Cox.

In January 2017, Hannam travelled to Swindon pubs where he met NA co-founder Alex Davies. In April 2017, he took part in boxing in woodland which was filmed on Mr Davies’ camera.

On July 2, he spraypainted the symbol for an NA alias – NS131 – in a storm drain in Swindon, which was filmed for a promotional video.

Days later, on July 19, Hannam applied to join Scotland Yard, fraudulently denying he had ever been a member of the British National Party “or similar organisation”.

When officers searched his bedroom last year, they found neo-Nazi posters, and notes detailing his membership of NA.

As early as May 2014, he wrote: “I’m not racist, I just don’t like people who’s skin is darker than mine! (sic)”

He had stored on a USB stick two documents said to be useful to a terrorist.

Mass murderer Anders Breivik’s manifesto contained guidance on making radiological, chemical and biological weapons, and improvised explosive devices while the second document detailed how to carry out a fatal knife attack.

Hannam, of Edmonton, north London, is currently suspended from duty.

He was released on conditional bail ahead of sentencing on April 23.

EVIDENCE: Selfie photograph of policeman Ben Hannam – including Nazi insignia and drawnon Hitler moustache – which was shown to the jury during his trial at the Old Bailey in London.