Bath man 'shared explosive-making recipe in group chat', court hears

A man shared instructions which could have been used to make an explosive, a court has heard.

Elliot Brown, 25, from Bath, shared a video on a messenger app group chat of his speaker reading out a recipe on how to make thermite.

Three days later, fellow member Dean Morrice purchased materials to make the explosive substance.

Mr Brown is accused of the collection and dissemination of terrorist publication, which he denies.

Bristol Crown Court heard Mr Brown recorded a 30-second video on 22 March 2020, in which his Amazon Alexa speaker responded to his question - "how do I make thermite?".

Alexa read out instructions from a website, which Mr Brown recorded and sent into a far-right group chat via the messenger app Telegram.

The group chat contained messages from members, including Mr Brown, expressing racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views, the court heard.

It also contained photos related to the support of neo-Nazism, the jury was told.

On 25 March 2020, Morrice purchased materials that could be combined to make thermite.

In August 2020, police raided his home and found enough aluminium powder, iron oxide, and magnesium ribbon in the kitchen to make the explosive substance.

Morrice was arrested and found guilty of stockpiling explosive materials.

Mr Brown was subsequently arrested in February 2021 for the dissemination of terrorist publication but he told police he made the video "as a joke", the court heard.

He said he had "a dark sense of humour" and was being "ironic" and had "made comments" to gain others group members' approval.

He told Bristol Crown Court he no longer held "neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic or racist views".

Naomi Parsons, prosecuting, said: "Although thermite can be used for welding purposes, it can also be put to nefarious [criminal] and destructive use.

"It can be used as an incendiary weapon, used to start fires, destroy equipment or cause burns."

Mr Brown grew up in Swansea and moved to Bath in around 2016 for university.

He told the court he was "ashamed and angry" of "extremist" comments he had made in the group chat.

"My views, at the time, were uneducated, far-right, anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic and I was in a vulnerable place at the time and had become more right-wing," he said.

Mr Brown told the court he had met with some members of the group regularly, but had only met Morrice a few times, and he was "an acquaintance".

He said he was significantly younger than the other group members and was "vulnerable to becoming more right-wing".

He said although he used to hold extremist views, he no longer holds them, and was "saved by becoming a Christian" after Morrice's arrest.

"When I shared the video into the group chat, I had no idea that Morrice was then going to buy materials.

"I have never been a violent man, and although I held strong views, they were only ever shared privately," he told the court.

The trial continues.

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