Neo-Nazi podcasters who targeted Harry and Meghan’s son jailed for terror crimes
search

The latest Jewish News

Read this week’s digital edition

Click Here

Neo-Nazi podcasters who targeted Harry and Meghan’s son jailed for terror crimes

Christopher Gibbons and Tyrone Patten-Walsh sentenced to a total of 21 years in prison. Both men committed eight counts of encouragement of terrorism.

Gibbons (left) and Patten-Walsh (right). Picture: Metropolitan Police
Gibbons (left) and Patten-Walsh (right). Picture: Metropolitan Police

Two “dedicated and unapologetic white supremacists” who targeted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son in a neo-Nazi podcast have been jailed for terrorism offences.

Christopher Gibbons described Harry and Meghan’s son Archie as a “creature [that] should be put down” and called for Harry to be “prosecuted and judicially killed for treason”.

He made the comments on an extreme right-wing radio-style chat show he hosted with Tyrone Patten-Walsh, who also disseminated “profoundly offensive” extreme views, a court heard

At Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, Gibbons, wearing a cream sweatshirt and blue jeans, was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment and Patten-Walsh, dressed in a half-zip burgundy sweatshirt and grey tracksuit, to 10 years.

Both will also be subject to a 15-year-long notification order and serve three years on licence when they are released, to reduce their ability to cause further harm.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with their baby son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor CREDIT: Dominic Lipinski /PA

Using the aliases “Christopher White” and “Joseph Walsh”, the pair aired homophobic, racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic and misogynistic views and frequently referenced notorious mass murders by right-wing extremists in Norway, Christchurch, New Zealand and Charleston, USA.

The two Londoners’ podcast, called Lone Wolf Radio and later Black Wolf Radio, had by June 2020, when police intercepted it, 128 subscribers and around 9,000 views.

On the show, the pair promoted the view that “the white race was likely to be ‘genocided’ unless steps were taken to fight back”, and approved of “the day of the rope”, where people deemed “race traitors” would be hanged in a mass execution, in particular those in inter-racial relationships.

Black Wolf Radio episodes had cover images including one of a Nazi SS execution of a Jewish man kneeling above a pit filled with corpses and another advocating the hanging of Nelson Mandela.

Patten-Walsh, 34, of Romford, east London, offended between March and October 2019 and Gibbons, of Carshalton, south London, from April 2018 to February 2020, and both were convicted of all charges against them after a trial at Kingston Crown Court that ended on July 7 2023.

Both men committed eight counts of encouragement of terrorism.

Gibbons, a 40-year-old who lives with his ailing mother, was further found guilty of two counts of disseminating terrorist documents through his own website “The Radicalisation Library”, which had 2,191 subscribers by September 2020.

It contained material on the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, which argues a new multi-cultural society is replacing white people, and documents that encouraged people to commit terrorist acts.

Judge Peter Lodder KC, said the men used the appearance of a radio show as a “format to legitimise” their extreme views.

He said: “Both of you are dedicated and unapologetic white supremacists.

“The evidence demonstrates that you desire to live in a world dominated by white people purely for white people, your distorted thinking is that the white race has ceded too much influence to Blacks and Asians, to Jews and Muslims, to gays, to white liberals and to white people in mixed-race relationships.

“Although your beliefs are as preposterous as they are offensive to a civilised society, in our democracy you are entitled to hold them – however, your activities went far beyond what is permissible.

“So as to suggest the legitimate exercise of freedom of speech, you assumed the format of a radio show, but you used language and adopted iconography designed to encourage acts of extreme right-wing terrorism.

“You rejected democratic processes and supported the hate crimes and violence common in extreme neo-Nazi groups, you advocated Accelerationism, an extreme right wing ideology seeking the rapid and violent collapse of our multi-racial society in order to bring about a racist fresh start, with like-minded whites at its core.”

Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said the content could influence young people to extremist ideologies.

He said: “The material that Gibbons and Patten-Walsh shared is exactly the kind that has the potential to draw vulnerable people – particularly young people – into terrorism.”

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.

For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.

Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.

You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.

100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...

Engaging

Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.

Celebrating

There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.

Pioneering

In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.

Campaigning

Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.

Easy access

In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.

Voice of our community to wider society

The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.

We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.

read more: