Cardiff man jailed for terrorism offences

A Cardiff man has been jailed for more than four years for terrorism offences after sharing extreme right-wing propaganda videos.

Kristen Persen, 22, from Fairwater in Cardiff, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday January 18, where he was handed a four years and eight months sentence, he was ordered to serve a minimum of two thirds of the sentence.

Persen had previously appeared at court last month where he pleaded guilty to 10 charges; six counts of Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006 (sharing terrorism material) and four counts under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (collecting terrorism information).

He was arrested at an address in Cardiff on 30 November 2022 following a joint investigation between the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit (WM CTU) and Counter Terrorism Policing Wales (CTP Wales).

On his laptop, detectives found instructional books and manuals for the manufacture of firearms, explosives and detonators as well as white supremacist propaganda. Material was also found glorifying proscribed extreme right-wing banned organisations relating to Nazism, racism, anti-Semitism ideology.

Also found at his address was a large amount of clothing, flags and stickers illustrating and supporting right wing views.

Temporary Detective Chief Superintendent Anastasia Miller, from CTP WM CTU said:

“We work tirelessly to secure convictions of individuals such as Persen who pose a significant threat to communities across the country.

“Extremists use this kind of ideology to create discord, distrust and fear among our communities and we strive to counter this. As a result of these investigations, we have seen a significant increase of right-wing referrals to our Prevent programme.

“Our proactive efforts to confront the threat posed by extreme right-wing terrorism continues.” 

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Williams, Head of Investigations at Counter Terrorism Policing Wales stated:

“We welcome the outcome of the court process, which is the result of a lengthy and extremely detailed joint investigation between Counter Terrorism officers in both Wales and the West Midlands.

“It clearly demonstrates the benefits and strengths of a collective approach to what are often very complex cases to investigate. The safety and the security of the public is at the heart of everything we do, and our officers and staff rightly go to great lengths to meet that objective. The outcome of the court case helps us ensure that continues to be the case.”

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