Neo-Nazi who sported a Hitler moustache in court faces a jail term
A NEO-NAZI who called himself the “Führer”, sported a Hitler moustache in court and claimed Jews were behind a Covid-19 “hoax” is facing prison.
Matthew Henegan, 36, accused Jews of staging terror attacks using “crisis actors” — a conspiracy-theory term for people posing as victims and witnesses of atrocities.
At one stage during his trial at the Old Bailey he turned up in court in a swastika face mask and on another occasion dressed in Nazi-like clothing.
But the long-haired extremist claimed that his toothbrush moustache was not grown in homage to the Nazi dictator. Henegan told the jury: “You may see me, with my moustache, and think of it as a Hitler moustache, rather than Charlie Chaplin or Oliver Hardy. It is clearly your diseased mind that influences your thoughts.”
In material he published he referred to Jews as “k*kes”, calling them “filthy and sadistic” and referring to them as “creatures”.
He also produced an hour-long film accusing Jews of controlling the police, the economy and the media. When asked if he was a National Socialist, he replied: “Yes, I do not pretend otherwise.” Henegan, from St Neots, Cambridgeshire, had refused to take an oath on the Bible before giving evidence, saying that would be an “oath to himself”.
He was convicted of publishing, distributing or possessing material intended to stir racial hatred on six counts and one count of possessing a document useful to a terrorist after just under 11 hours of deliberation by the jury.
Judge Nigel Lickley said: “You have to understand that because of the convictions now recorded against you, you are facing a custodial sentence.
“The length of that custodial sentence, and whether it is immediate or suspended, are matters I will decide on the next occasion. I have no firm view at the moment, other than all sentencing options are open, and that includes immediate custody.”
Detective Superintendent Andy Waldie, head of Counter Terrorism Policing for Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, said: “There’s no doubt that Henegan shows all the signs of someone with a warped, rightwing ideology who was intent on stirring racial hatred in his home town.
“Throughout the investigation and when interviewed by officers he repeatedly used racial slurs and offensive terms, and showed no remorse whatsoever for his actions.”
He will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 14 January.