Former private boarder who posted neo-Nazi video spared jail
Oliver Riley, 19, was found to have uploaded 23 videos on BitChute which were “racist, homophobic, glorify Nazism and terrorist attacks”, according to the prosecutor.
A former private schoolboy who posted neo-Nazi and homophobic videos on the internet has avoided jail.
Oliver Riley, 19, had admitted a string of terrorism offences after his arrest at a boarding school in Gloucestershire in October 2021.
On Friday, he was sentenced at the Old Bailey to a three-year community order. He will have to complete a rehabilitation activity for 60 days, 200 hours of unpaid work, and not delete his digital history for three years.
Opening the facts, prosecutor Tom Williams said the defendant, from Watlington in Oxfordshire, was aged 16 and 17 at the time of the offences.
Riley’s interest in extremism was revealed after he was arrested at school by counter-terrorism officers on October 12 2021.
He was taken by his housemaster to the headmaster’s office. After being cautioned by the police, he told officers: “I have been incredibly stupid.”
In a search of his room, police seized a mobile phone, a laptop and a red notebook. Riley was found to have uploaded 23 videos on BitChute which were “racist, homophobic, glorify Nazism and terrorist attacks”, Mr Williams said.
His BitChute channel, named Anglo_kommando, was open to the public and had 21 subscribers, Mr Williams said. In June 2020, he posted a music video entitled “Kill all the gays” which had been viewed 234 times.
The lyrics included a line about ending “the Pride parade” with a “grenade.” In August 2020, he posted another video featuring footage filmed by the terrorist who murdered 51 people in Christchurch, New Zealand, which was set to a Looney Tunes audio background.
Last July, Riley admitted providing a service to others to obtain, read, listen to or look at a publication to encourage terrorism.
He also pleaded guilty to posting the “grossly offensive” music video and three charges of possessing a document containing information useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism on October 12 2021.
The publications included instructions on how to make high and low explosives and set up a paramilitary unit. The defendant’s extreme state of mind was revealed in WhatsApp chat with his girlfriend, the court was told.
One message included a Holocaust-denying meme. In another message, he wrote: “Sometimes I want to die, kill my self, go to war or something, I sometimes want to kill people and rape people because I am so angry.”
He also spoke of going to South African to fight and “turn it into a pro-white” state and went on to make antisemitic statements. After his arrest, Riley said he was “sorry” for what he had done.
He said he had taken shooting lessons at school but had not made any attempt to make explosives from the instructions he had. In mitigation, Ed Henry KC said Riley has traits of an autism spectrum disorder.
He had a “high-achieving sibling” but was himself “a stumbler”, the lawyer said. Mr Henry said the defendant’s behaviour was the “product of chronic sense of under-achievement and chronic sense of anxiety”.
He suggested Riley had “bought into” the “putrid propaganda” he had been exposed to. The barrister added: “He had no intention to rape anybody and he had no intention of killing anybody.
“He made a series of calamitous errors of judgment, mistakes. He hardly plays the role of being a terrorist in the dock of the Central Criminal Court.” Mr Henry quoted Riley’s own explanation which said: “Instead of being a person, instead of having an identity, I spent my day doing nothing productive, just shit-posting and being lonely.”
Appealing for a non-custodial sentence, the barrister said college student Riley feels a “deep sense of shame and embarrassment” and is “revolted by what he did.” Sentencing, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker noted the defendant’s activities had gone on for 16 months and involved the possession of videos and images which were “racist, antisemitic and homophobic”.
The senior judge accepted Riley’s “genuine remorse”, co-operation with the investigation, young age and early guilty plea. He said that usually a custodial sentence would be “almost inevitable” for the offences Riley admitted.
But in this case, “exceptionally”, he said he was satisfied that a community order would be the most effective sentence. Afterwards, Nick Price, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “It was criminally reckless for Oliver Riley to post this racist and extremist material online for others to view.
“By his actions others were being encouraged to assist or engage in terrorist activity. We carefully considered his age and learning difficulties before bringing these charges but concluded a prosecution should be brought. The CPS takes all cases involving hate crime extremely seriously and will continue to prosecute those who pose a threat to our society.”
The head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East, Detective Chief Superintendent Olly Wright, said: “Our investigation uncovered videos in Riley’s possession, the content of which supported white supremacy and hatred; he chose to share the material with others, promoting and glorifying these abhorrent views.”
“I now hope that he takes the opportunity he has to get whatever help he needs to understand how dangerous and harmful this kind of material is.”
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