Neo-Nazi former policeman jailed

THE first police officer in Britain to be convicted of a terrorism offence was jailed for more than four years last Friday (30) for belonging to a banned neoNazi group and possessing extremist material.

Benjamin Hannam, 22, who had worked as a probationary police constable with the London Metropolitan Police, was found guilty earlier this month of belonging to National Action. The group was outlawed after it praised the murder of Jo Cox, a female member of parliament who was killed in a street attack in 2016.

Hanman was also convicted of lying on his police application forms and owning terrorism documents. He had previously admitted possessing indecent images of a child. “Benjamin Hannam lied on his police application and vetting forms in an attempt to hide his dangerous and racist beliefs,” said Jenny Hopkins, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division.

Hannam was first known to have become involved with National Action in early 2016, six months before it became the first far-right group to be outlawed in Britain since World War Two.