Staffordshire Nazi-worshipping extremist guilty of planning terror attacks with two others

Three Nazi-worshipping extremists who believed a race war was imminent have been found guilty of planning terrorist attacks on mosques and synagogues.

A jury at Sheffield Crown Court heard how Christopher Ringrose, 34, Marco Pitzettu, 25, and Brogan Stewart, 25, were preparing to use the more than 200 weapons they had amassed, including machetes, swords, crossbows and an illegal stun gun.

Ringrose, from Cannock in Staffordshire, had also 3D-printed most of the components of a semi-automatic firearm at the time of his arrest and was trying to get the remaining parts.

The trio, who are not believed to have met in the real world before they appeared together in the dock of a court, were arrested when security services believed an attack was imminent after undercover officers infiltrated their online group, the court heard.

A nine-week long trial heard how the group idolised Hitler and the Nazis, shared racist slurs and glorified mass murderers.

On Wednesday, a jury rejected claims the defendants were fantasists with no intention of carrying out their threats and found Ringrose, of Cannock, Staffordshire; Pitzettu, of Mickleover, Derbyshire; and Stewart, of Tingley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, guilty of a charge of preparing acts of terrorism and charges of collecting information likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism.

Ringrose was also convicted of manufacturing a prohibited weapon.

Pitzettu pleaded guilty to obtaining an illegal stun gun at a previous hearing.

The defendants will be sentenced on July 17.

The judge, Mrs Justice Cutts, told them: “You must all expect substantial custodial sentences”.

Opening the trial in March, Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting, said: “The prosecution say that these three defendants were right-wing extremists who regarded themselves as National Socialists, or Nazis, and they supported the National Socialist movement in the UK, such as it is or indeed was.”

He said the defendants followed a cause which embraced an admiration for Adolf Hitler, white supremacy, a “hatred towards black and other non-white races”, and glorification and admiration for mass killers who have targeted the black and Muslim community.

He told the jury of seven men and five women that the trio all held a “belief that there must soon be a race war between the white and other races”.

The prosecutor told the jury that the defendants formed a group called Einsatz 14 in January 2024, with “like-minded extremists” who wanted to “go to war for their chosen cause”.

He said Stewart told the group: “Hitler did more for his people than any politician. And for Britain to have a p*** and zionist in charge of the country is absolutely outrageous.”

Mr Sandiford said this last comment was a reference to the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The jury was also shown a short video Stewart posted of himself wearing a German army helmet, a Nazi armband and a skull face covering.

Mr Sandiford explained how Stewart discussed torturing a Muslim leader using his “information extraction kit” with an undercover officer.

He explained how Stewart set up a group called Einsatz 14 with him as “Fuhrer” and an undercover officer called Blackheart as the “Obergruppenfuhrer”, which the other two defendants also joined.

He said that when Blackheart asked him about the group’s ideology, Stewart replied: “Personally, I’ve taken inspiration from the SS”, and added: “I also hope that we can extort political rivals and potentially plan operations to meet migrants landing on our beaches and deal with them.

“As the race war comes to unfold I’d expect members to stand by, wait for orders and deploy to combat our…”

The court heard that Stewart sent the officer a list of “standard uniform” for Einsatz 14 which included a Black SS helmet, “mask, balaclava, skull face mask or anything to hide identity” as well as a Swastika armband, although the defendant said this was “Not a given. It must be earned”.

Mr Sandiford said potential recruits were sent a vetting form with questions such as: “What is your opinion on the historic paramilitary force, the SS?” and “Out of so many different options, who would you say you hold most of your hatred for – kikes, n******, shitskins, fags etc and why”.

He told the court that Stewart developed a mission statement for the group which said its “basic duties” included to “target mosques, Islamic education centres and other similar locations”.

Mr Sandiford told the jury the group discussed potential targets at the end of January 2024.

He told the court Stewart sent Blackheart details of the Islamic Education Centre on Mexborough Road in Leeds, including a Google Maps image.

The officer asked Stewart for more detailed information about the plan and he replied that they could smash windows or ambush someone, the court heard.

According to Mr Sandiford, Stewart said: “It depends how far we are willing to go. It could be a beating with batons and bats or something more serious.”

Bethan David, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said: “These extremists were plotting violent acts of terrorism against synagogues, mosques and an Islamic Education Centre. By their own admission, they were inspired by SS tactics and supremacist ideology.

“Had Christopher Ringrose managed to completely finish building the 3D-printed semi-automatic firearm that he had started to, it could have been used leading to devastating consequences.”