Former Army driver guilty of neo-Nazi terror offences

A former Army driver has been found guilty of neo-Nazi related terror offences.

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

He also made a video of himself strumming his guitar to footage of the Christchurch mosque shooting in 2019.

Morrice, from Somerset, was remanded in custody at Kingston Crown Court ahead of sentencing on Monday.

The court heard 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".

Morrice, who ran a small business fixing electronics after a brief stint in the Army, told jurors he enjoyed dressing up as a "right-wing fascist".

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.

Police raided his home on 20 August 2020 where they found enough ingredients to make 1.3kg of gunpowder and 680kg of thermite, which Morrice claimed were to pursue his interest in homebrewing.

Stored on his mobile phone, officers found a manual about how to make a gun, a document about making explosives and a handbook on how to encrypt data.

Prosecutor Naomi Parsons told the jury that while it was not illegal to hold neo-Nazi views, Morrice's conduct "crossed the line into terrorism".

Morrice was 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 15 March 2019 and 20 August 2020.