Scots neo-Nazi mother and daughter jailed for violent antisemitic hate crimes
Pair praised Hitler, called for another Holocaust and targeted Jews in years-long campaign of online hate
A Scottish mother and daughter who glorified Adolf Hitler, denied the Holocaust and called for violence against Jews have been jailed after admitting a sustained campaign of extremist hate crime.
Shirley Craughwell, 51, and her daughter Hannah Craughwell, 27, were sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to offences aggravated by racial and religious prejudice committed between 2021 and 2024.
The case centred on prolific antisemitic activity across multiple social media platforms, including posts praising Nazism, promoting neo-Nazi ideology and calling explicitly for a new Holocaust.
Sentencing Shirley Craughwell, Sheriff Charles Walls said the material she shared was “deeply disturbing,” adding: “The level of hatred, racism and antisemitism expressed by you is deeply disturbing.”
He said her posts went far beyond offensive speech, describing them as “violent and threatening in relation to people of the Jewish faith”.
The court heard that Shirley Craughwell repeatedly praised Hitler, described non-white people as “a different species” and promoted conspiracy theories about Jews, including denial of the Nazi genocide. She also used neo-Nazi symbols and language, including the number “88”, an online reference to “Heil Hitler”.
In a particularly serious aggravation, she encouraged and filmed a young child performing Nazi salutes, later posting the footage online. Sheriff Walls said involving a child in extremist offending significantly worsened the gravity of the crimes.
She was sentenced to 20 months in prison, backdated to 27 November.
Her daughter, Hannah Craughwell, used the online alias “Hannah Hitler” and described Jews as “the devil’s children”, according to material shown to the court. She also shared Holocaust-denial content, racist and transphobic videos, and distributed neo-Nazi propaganda leaflets in her local community.
Sheriff Walls said Hannah Craughwell had continued to minimise her conduct, noting her pattern of “racist, antisemitic, transphobic and homophobic” activity.
She was jailed for 16 months.
Prosecutors told the court police became aware of the pair after receiving intelligence about their online activity. Officers later uncovered thousands of extremist posts, links to far-right networks and contact with individuals previously convicted of inciting racial hatred.
The sentencing comes amid continued concern from Jewish community groups over the normalisation of Holocaust denial, Nazi symbolism and online radicalisation, particularly when extremist ideology translates into real-world action.
Community leaders have repeatedly warned that unchecked digital hate fuels threats against Jewish life offline – a concern reflected in the court’s finding that the offences were not only ideological, but dangerous.
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