A serving probationary Metropolitan police officer has been charged with being a member of far-right terrorist group National Action.
Benjamin Hannam, 21, of north London, has been charged with five offences following an investigation by the Met’s counter-terrorism command and has been suspended from duty, Scotland Yard said.
As well as charges of belonging to or professing to belong to National Action between 17 December 2016 and 1 January 2018, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000, he has also been charged with fraud offences along with possessing an indecent photograph of a child.
The Met said that he is alleged to have falsely represented in his application to join the force that he had not been a “member of an organisation similar to the BNP, namely National Action”.
Hannam has been bailed to appear at Westminster magistrates’ court on 6 August.
The fact that the officer is alleged to have been a supporter of a neo-Nazi terror group and got past vetting will be especially embarrassing for Met chiefs. It comes at a time when the Met is facing questions and criticism over its record on racism amid claims that community confidence is under strain.
National Action, founded in 2013, is assessed to be a terror group, according to security officials who advised the British government.
It became the first far-right group to be proscribed in 2016, when Amber Rudd was home secretary, because it was assessed to be advocating violence to further its ideology.
Announcing the move, Rudd said: “National Action is a racist, antisemitic and homophobic organisation which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology. It has absolutely no place in a Britain that works for everyone. Proscribing it will prevent its membership from growing, stop the spread of poisonous propaganda and protect vulnerable young people at risk of radicalisation from its toxic views.”
Hannam, who was arrested in March, worked in frontline policing with the north area basic command unit (BCU). Its acting commander, Det SuptElla Marriott, said: “These are extremely serious charges for anyone to face, and I fully understand and appreciate how deeply concerning it might be for the public, and particularly local communities here in north London, that the charges are against a serving police officer.
“The Met, and indeed the public, does not accept this behaviour … we recognise the need to have the trust and confidence of all our communities.”
Anyone found to be a member of, or offering support to the proscribed groups can face up to 10 years in jail.
Counter-terror chiefs have described the far right as the fastest-growing terror threat.
The British military has put in extra measures amid concerns about attempts at far-right infiltration and concern about some forces’ apparent support for extremism.
