{"id":241634,"date":"2023-11-24T21:27:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T21:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=241634"},"modified":"2023-11-24T21:27:57","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T21:27:57","slug":"neo-nazi-leader-29-of-banned-terror-group-is-freed-from-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/world-news\/neo-nazi-leader-29-of-banned-terror-group-is-freed-from-jail\/","title":{"rendered":"Neo-Nazi leader, 29, of banned terror group is freed from jail"},"content":{"rendered":"
The neo-Nazi leader of the banned far right racist group National Action has been freed from jail weeks after being recommended for release by the Parole Board.<\/p>\n
Mark Jones, now 29, served three-and-a-half years of his five-and-a-half year sentence handed down in June 2020 for being the \u2018lynchpin\u2019 of the UK’s most \u2018extreme vision’ of a neo-Nazi group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jones had a parole hearing on the 2nd October and was told later that month that he would be freed on licence. He is the last of four key National Action zealots to be released.<\/p>\n
MailOnline can reveal that Jones was released on licence with a number of strict conditions on his movements and actions earlier in November.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice confirmed Jones had been freed and added: \u2018Terrorist offenders face some of the strictest supervision on release and will be recalled swiftly to prison if they breach their licence conditions.\u2019<\/p>\n
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Mark Jones, 29, was the leader of a terror group described as the ‘most extreme vision of a neo-Nazi organisation to have appeared in the United Kingdom in many decades’\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Alice Cutter, the ex girlfriend of Jones, entered a Miss Hitler competition run by the proscribed far-Right group – under the name The Buchenwald Princess<\/p>\n
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Jones in Buchenwald concentration camp posing as a Nazi for photographs in 2016<\/p>\n
MailOnline has previously revealed that Jones\u2019 ex-girlfriend Alice Cutter, dubbed Miss Hitler for competing in a beauty pageant as Miss Buchenwald – a reference to the Second World War death camp – and other group members Garry Jack and Connor Scothern have all been released.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the Parole Board said:\u2019\u201cWe can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Mark Jones following an oral hearing.<\/p>\n
\u2018Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.<\/p>\n
\u2018A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.<\/p>\n
\u2018Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing.<\/p>\n
\u2018Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements may be given at the hearing.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more.\u2019<\/p>\n
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Jones will be subject to a number of strict conditions, including having to reside at a designated address, adhere to a curfew, wear a GPS tag and take regular lie tests<\/p>\n
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Pictured: Members of the banned terrorist group National Action which has been labelled a ‘racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation’<\/p>\n
Jones has been recommended for release despite refusing to undertake extra work to back up a number of jail programmes he has completed to address his extremist views.<\/p>\n
A Parole Board report, seen by MailOnline, states: \u2018Evidence was presented at the hearing regarding Mr Jones\u2019 progress and custodial conduct during this sentence.<\/p>\n
\u2018He had undertaken an accredited programme to address extremist offending and ways of disengaging. Witnesses noted that Mr Jones had not been prepared to engage with further work to help consolidate and explore his learning from the accredited programme.<\/p>\n
\u2018Mr Jones had not believed that this would benefit him.\u2019<\/p>\n
The report continued: \u2018No significant concerns had been reported about Mr Jones\u2019 custodial behaviour.<\/p>\n
\u2018The panel noted that the outstanding work could be completed in the community and Mr Jones would be compelled to do this under the conditions of his release.<\/p>\n
\u2018In this case, protective factors which would reduce the risk of reoffending were considered to be his positive work ethic, his determination to avoid a return to<\/p>\n
prison and the support he has from his family.\u2019<\/p>\n
The decision to recommend Jones\u2019 release was taken despite \u2018witnesses\u2019 at the hearing being unable to support the move:\u2019 Witnesses did not support release in this case, being concerned about risk and the likelihood of Mr Jones\u2019 engagement with professionals.<\/p>\n
\u2018The panel noted that Mr Jones had largely engaged with what had been expected of him in prison.\u2019<\/p>\n
The three-person panel decided that the release plan put together by Jones\u2019 probation officer was \u2018robust\u2019 and would be sufficient to protect the public.<\/p>\n
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Jones\u00a0told jurors of his ‘feelings of admiration’ for Hitler, while the court heard he had a special wedding edition of Mein Kampf (above, Jones’ Nazi-themed illustrations)<\/p>\n
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Pictured: Members of National Action hold the group’s flag outside Leeds Town Hall<\/p>\n
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Cutter has already been released from prison after serving 26 months of her three year sentence\u00a0<\/p>\n
It stated: \u2019The panel examined the release plan provided by Mr Jones\u2019 probation officer and weighed its proposals against assessed risks.<\/p>\n
\u2018The plan included a requirement to reside in designated accommodation as well as strict limitations on Mr Jones\u2019 contacts, movements and activities.<\/p>\n
\u2018The panel noted that Mr Jones would be extensively monitored on licence and it concluded that the plan was robust enough to manage him in the community.\u2019<\/p>\n
The report concludes: \u2019The panel noted that the identified risk of physical violence or of planning and executing terrorist acts was low in this case.<\/p>\n
\u2018After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.\u2019<\/p>\n
Jones is subject to a number of strict conditions. These include having to reside at a designated address, adhere to a curfew, wear a GPS tag, take regular lie tests to monitor his extremist views and only contact a limited number of people.<\/p>\n
Jones cannot contact his ex-National Action colleagues, including former girlfriend Alice Cutter, now 26, who was released in October last year.<\/p>\n
The trial of the four group members at Birmingham Crown Court in March 2020 heard how Jones, then 25 and Cutter, both of Sowerby Bridge, near Halifax in West Yorkshire, held shocking racist views.<\/p>\n
The court was told the evil pair sported \u2018his-and-hers swastika knitwear\u2019 and had a collection of Nazi paraphernalia, knuckle dusters, knives and other weapons<\/p>\n
Jones was originally the group\u2019s London regional organiser, who acknowledged posing for a photograph while delivering a Nazi-style salute and holding an NA flag in Buchenwald\u2019s execution room during a trip to Germany in 2016..<\/p>\n
Judge Paul Farrer QC told Jones he had played \u2018a significant role in the continuation of the organisation\u2019 after its ban in December 2016 in the aftermath of the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Barnaby Jameson QC said they were part of a \u2018fellowship of hate\u2019 who continued to further National Action\u2019s aims after it was banned.<\/p>\n
He said the \u2018tiny, secretive group of die-hard neo-Nazis\u2019 were prepared to achieve their goals with terrorism, including the cleansing of Jews, ethnic minorities, gay people and liberals.<\/p>\n
\u2018The ultimate aim of the group was all-out race war, Mr Jameson said. \u2018Members of National Action were equipping themselves with weapons and the ability to produce explosives.\u2019<\/p>\n
After the ban, Jones was one of the senior figures who received instructions from de facto leader Christopher Lythgoe that National Action was \u2018just shedding one skin for another\u2019 and would continue underground.<\/p>\n
Jones, described as a \u2018National Action die-hard\u2019 in court, was a leading figure with connections to international neo-Nazi groups in the US, Ukraine and Lithuania.<\/p>\n
He called himself \u2018Grandaddy Terror\u2019 in a chat group on the encrypted Telegram app that was reserved for National Action\u2019s co-founder and regional leaders.<\/p>\n
Jones met new National Action recruits and created neo-Nazi artwork for the group, as well as spin-offs Scottish Dawn and NS131, which were later banned.<\/p>\n
The railway engineer, who grew up in foster care amid a backdrop of domestic violence against his mother, also organised members\u2019 physical training including boxing sessions in Swindon.<\/p>\n
Judge Farrer said he attended post-proscription meetings where leaders planned how National Action would survive, adding: \u2019You played a significant role in the continuity of the organisation.\u2019<\/p>\n