Swastika flag, KKK outfit & ‘baby Adolf’: Couple accused of National Action membership (PHOTOS)
A couple, accused of being part of a banned far-right group, posed for photographs with a Nazi swastika flag while holding their newborn child, who was allegedly named after German dictator Adolf Hitler, a UK court has heard.
Adam Thomas, 21, and his partner Claudia Patatas, 38, face terrorism offences after they were arrested in January by police investigating the banned far-right group National Action.
The pair are on trial alongside 27-year-old Daniel Bogunovic, who is also charged with being a member of the proscribed organisation. National Action was outlawed by the Home Office in 2016 because of its promotion of violence online. All three defendants deny the charges, reported the BBC.
READ MORE: National Action leader jailed for 8 years over banned neo-Nazi group membership
On Monday, Birmingham Crown Court was shown images alleged to be of Adam Thomas dressed in a Ku Klux Klan uniform and holding his child. Described as a “fanatical” duo, the court was also told how the couple’s baby was allegedly given the middle name Adolf as a celebration of Nazi Germany’s former leader.
A second image of the couple shows them standing in front of a red swastika flag while Patatas smiles and cradles their child. According to the Banbury Guardian, a police raid on Thomas and Patatas’ Oxfordshire home uncovered a host of ‘neo-Nazi’ inspired images while a knife and a book described as a “terrorist material” were also found.
Police investigating the group are also said to have found a swastika-shaped pastry cutter at the home in Waltham Gardens earlier this year. The trial is expected to last around four weeks.
READ MORE: Ex-member of neo-Nazi group was Leeds election candidate, claims anti-racism organization
National Action has been identified by the UK government as a “racist neo-Nazi group” formed in 2013. “The group is virulently racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic. Its ideology promotes the idea that Britain will inevitably see a violent ‘race war’,” states a Home Office profile of the group, which also reveals that online propaganda from the group celebrated the murder of British MP Jo Cox.
“National Action’s online propaganda material, disseminated via social media, frequently features extremely violent imagery and language. It condones and glorifies those who have used extreme violence for political or ideological ends,” it adds.
Like this story? Share it with a friend!
