‘Unduly lenient’ sentence of neo-Nazi terror offender told to read classics to be reviewed by Court of Appeal

Attorney general refers sentence given to Ben John as it ‘appears unduly lenient’

Ben John was ordered to read classics including Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Getty Images)

Court of Appeal judges are to review an “unduly lenient” sentence given to a neo-Nazi terror offender who was ordered to read classic literature.

Ben John was handed a suspended prison sentence for possessing a terrorist document in August, meaning he will not be jailed unless he breaks the conditions of his licence and a five-year Serious Crime Prevention Order.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said: “The attorney general has referred John's sentence to the Court of Appeal as she agrees that it appears unduly lenient. It is now for the court to decide whether to increase the sentence.”

Judge Timothy Spencer QC ordered the 21-year-old to exchange extreme right-wing material for literary classics during a sentencing hearing at Leicester Crown Court.

“Have you read Dickens? Austen? Start with Pride and Prejudice and Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Think about Hardy. Think about Trollope,” the judge reportedly said.

”On 4 January you will tell me what you have read and I will test you on it. I will test you and if I think you are [lying to] me you will suffer.”

Reports of the sentencing sparked fierce debate, and comparisons with sentences given to other young people for the same offence.

The counter-extremist organisation Hope Not Hate sent a letter to the attorney general calling for a review under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.

Chief executive Nick Lowles wrote: “A suspended sentence and a suggested reading list of English classics for a terror conviction is unduly lenient for a crime of this nature.

This sentence is sending a message that violent right-wing extremists may be treated leniently by the courts. That is a dangerous message to send when the far right poses the fastest-growing terror threat today.”

Mr Lowles argued that “lenient sentences” could lead young people not to fear repercussions from accessing terrorist and extremist content online.

Judge Spencer labelled John a “sad fantasist”, saying he did not have any terrorist motivations himself and was not likely to cause harm.

Leicester Crown Court heard he had amassed a wealth of white supremacist, antisemitic and satanic material, as well as explosives manuals.

Following a trial in August, a jury convicted him of one count of possessing information useful to a terrorist over a document containing instructions on how to construct various explosive devices.

John was acquitted of six other counts of the same offence, after saying he did not know what the documents contained.

At the time of his arrest in January 2020, John was studying for a criminology and psychology degree at the University of Leicester.

Judge Spencer rejected his claims that the research was a “mere academic fascination”, and found that he had aligned with extreme ideologies.

John was given a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended for two years, and must fulfil the terms of a Serious Crime Prevention Order and tagged curfew.

He was released from custody at the sentencing hearing, having been held on remand since 11 August because he had broken his bail conditions.

Detective Inspector James Manning, of Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands, said: “John possessed a wealth of National Socialist and antisemitic material which indicated a fascination and belief in a white supremacist ideology, along with support for an extreme satanic group [the Order of Nine Angles] which is increasingly of concern for law enforcement agencies.

“The terrorist material he was found in possession of is extremely dangerous, and he acquired this to further his ideology. It indicates the threat that he and other followers of this hateful ideology pose to national security.”