Man who spread 'vile' racism online spared jail

A man who posted "vile" racist and anti-Semitic videos online has been spared jail because a judge said a brain injury made him susceptible to indoctrination.

Lee Cole, 48, shared videos from banned far-right terrorist groups, repeatedly called for the mass deportation of ethnic minorities and posted torrents of white supremacist, neo-Nazi and anti-Jewish rhetoric on social media platforms over several months, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Posting such "repugnant" material would normally result in lengthy jail terms but Cole's case was "exceptional", recorder Paul Sloan said.

Cole, from Gateshead admitted six counts of stirring up racial tension and was jailed for a year suspended for two years.

Cole set up accounts on social media platforms including GETTR and Telegram from which he repeatedly shared racist pictures and messages between December 2022 and July 2023, prosecutor Ashleigh Metcalfe said.

She said there were too many posts to count but they included videos from a National Action rally in Darlington in 2016, shortly before the group was added to the proscribed list of terrorist organisations.

In his posts, Cole shared a "catalogue of anti-Semitic and racist memes" as well as slogans and phrases used by white supremacists and Neo-Nazis, the court heard.

There were also homophobic and transphobic messages as well as repeated references to white people becoming extinct and calls to "protect ourselves", the court heard.

When Cole's home was raided in July 2023, counter-terrorism police found a copy of Hitler's autobiography Mein Kampf while Nazi writings and a Swastika had been scrawled on a wall, the court heard.

Cole, of East Hill Road, admitted the offences on the basis he had not intended to stir up racial hatred, but accepted his posts could have done that, the court heard.

Recorder Sloan said the decision by prosecutors to accept that basis of plea may seem "incomprehensible" but it was "entirely correct and appropriate" in Cole's case.

He said Cole's messages were "vile, sickening and abhorrent" and "ordinarily anyone posting such repugnant material can expect to go to prison for a long time".

But, he said, Cole's was an "exceptional case" and the defendant had a "long and documented history of mental health issues none of which are of [his] making".

These included being exposed to childhood traumas, including witnessing the death of a friend when he was 13 leaving him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions.

In 2006 Cole was attacked with a baseball bat leaving him with skull and facial fractures and significant brain injuries, the court heard.

Recorder Sloan said Cole became "totally isolated", paranoid and agoraphobic and his brain injury had, "through no fault" of his own, made him "extremely vulnerable to indoctrination" and "accepting beliefs uncritically".

The judge said Cole became "fixated" on beliefs and had "no insight whatsoever" into the impact of his posts.

Recorder Sloan said it was noteworthy that for 10 years he had lived in a diverse community and his neighbour, a man of African descent, could "not speak highly enough" of him.

Cole had always been "kind" and respectful and never used racial language towards the man or any other people from ethnic minorities, the judge said.

Recorder Sloan said Cole was "genuinely remorseful" and had been wiping away tears throughout the court proceedings.

The court heard he was getting mental health treatment.

"The public would be better protected if the good work already undertaken can be combined with the efforts of the probation service and can be continued in your case," the judge told Cole.

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