Ex-Army driver found guilty of neo-Nazi terror offences

LONDON: A former Army driver who made a video of himself strumming his guitar to footage of the Christchurch mosque shooting has been found guilty of neo-Nazi related terror offences.

Dean Morrice, 34, stockpiled chemicals used in home-made explosives as well as a cache of terrorism manuals and instructions for a 3D printed gun.

He regularly took part in far-right forums and had set up two of his own channels, glorifying figures from the Third Reich and hailing neo-Nazi terrorists as “saints”. Kingston Crown Court heard Morrice uploaded a video of himself, wearing a skull mask, strumming a guitar in time with the gunshots to footage of the Christchurch mosque shooting just three days after the 2019 attack.

Morrice, who ran a small business fixing electronics after a brief stint in the Army, which he joined aged 16 as a driver, told jurors he enjoyed dressing up as a “right-wing fascist” in outfits including a tactical vest and beret.

He admitted holding “fascist and neo-Nazi views”, but said he did not believe in “committing acts of violence towards ethnic or religious groups” and did not want to encourage terrorism.

But Morrice, of Paulton, Bristol, was on Thursday found guilty of two counts of having an explosive substance, three counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication, one of encouraging terrorism and four of possession of a document useful for terrorist purposes between March 15, 2019 and August 20, 2020.

Judge Peter Lodder QC remanded Morrice in custody ahead of sentencing on Monday. When his home was raided on August 20 2020, police found 1kg of carbon, 1kg of potassium nitrate and 500g of sulphur in his garage – enough ingredients to make 1.3kg of gunpowder.

They also found 500kg of aluminium metal powder, 500kg of iron oxide in the garage and 25g of magnesium ribbon in the kitchen, which would make 680kg of thermite.

Stored on his mobile phone, officers found a manual about how to make a gun, a document called “Poor Man’s RPG” about making explosives and a handbook on how to encrypt data.

On an SD card was found a collection of files with instructions on how to create viable firearms on a 3D printer, which could have been slotted into one of the two 3D printers found in Morrice’s garage.

Prosecutor Naomi Parsons told the jury that while it is not illegal to hold neo-Nazi views, Morrice’s conduct “crossed the line into terrorism”.

Morrice said he had no intention of making a gun from his 3D printer, saying he did not think it could be done. He claimed he had bought the chemicals found in his garage to pursue his interest in homebrewing.