Ben John
Ben John was a 21-year-old Lincoln criminology student convicted in August 2021 of one terrorism possession offence and given a suspended sentence later overturned on Solicitor General reference, with O9A literature among material found in his possession.
Ben John, 21, of Lincoln, was a criminology student at De Montfort University Leicester when he was arrested following an 11-month investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing's East Midlands unit. Officers found a hard drive at his home in Saxby Street, Highfields, Leicester, containing the Anarchy Cookbook Version 2000, an array of white supremacist and antisemitic literature, and material relating to the Order of Nine Angles (O9A). He was convicted at Leicester Crown Court on 12 August 2021 of one count of possessing a document useful to a terrorist under section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.1
Initial Sentencing
Judge Timothy Spencer QC sentenced John on 31 August 2021 to two years' imprisonment suspended for two years. In unusually personal sentencing remarks, Spencer asked John whether he had ever read the works of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, or William Shakespeare, and directed him to read classic literature as part of what he framed as an effort to broaden the defendant's perspective. Spencer's direction and the suspended sentence attracted immediate and widespread press criticism, with multiple counter-extremism commentators arguing that the sentence was inadequate for a conviction carrying a 10-year maximum.2
Solicitor General Reference and Court of Appeal
Solicitor General Alex Chalk QC MP (who later served as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor under Rishi Sunak) personally presented a reference under section 36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to the Court of Appeal, arguing that John's suspended sentence was unduly lenient. The Court of Appeal upheld the reference. On 19 January 2022, the court increased John's sentence to two years' immediate imprisonment plus one year on licence. John was required to surrender himself to police custody and was taken to Lincoln city centre police station by 4pm that day.3
The case citation for the Court of Appeal judgment is reported as [2022] EWCA Crim 54.
O9A Materials
Officers found that John possessed O9A material alongside white supremacist and antisemitic literature. Lincolnshire Police's statement after his conviction specified that the material included content related to O9A as a Satanist organisation. The charge was on the possession count alone, not for O9A membership or dissemination; the O9A material was part of the broader evidence establishing John's extremist orientation rather than forming a discrete element of the charge.1
Sources
- Greatest Hits Radio (Lincolnshire). "Lincoln 'white supremacist' convicted of terrorism offence." August 2021. https://planetradio.co.uk/lincs-fm/local/news/lincoln-white-supremacist-convicted-of-terrorism-offence/; Special Branch inquiry via Far-Right Criminals. https://far-rightcriminals.com/2021/08/13/special-branch-inquiry-led-to-students-terror-related-arrest/ ↩
- ITV News Central. "White supremacist Ben John told to read books by Judge who spared him jail imprisoned upon appeal." January 19, 2022. https://www.itv.com/news/central/2022-01-19/white-supremacist-ben-john-told-to-read-books-by-judge-who-spared-him-jail-imprisoned-upon-appeal; Law Gazette. "Extremist told to read classic literature jailed by Court of Appeal." January 2022. https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/extremist-told-to-read-classic-literature-jailed-by-court-of-appeal/5111203.article ↩
- GOV.UK. "Ben John's sentence increased following personal intervention by the Solicitor General." January 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ben-johns-sentence-increased-following-personal-intervention-by-the-solicitor-general--3; Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), R v John [2022] EWCA Crim 54 (19 January 2022). ↩
Local network
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