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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Grant McCabe & Jon Hebditch & Abbie Meehan

Scottish man who idolised neo-Nazis and planned to burn Islamic centre jailed

A white nationalist man who idolised terrorists, and had a hatred for Muslims, has been jailed for seven and a half years.

Offender Sam Imrie was sentenced today at the High Court in Glasgow, following a previous trial in Edinburgh in October, the Daily Record also reports.

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The judge has described Imrie's actions as the "despicable spreading of hate".

The 24-year-old was arrested in July 2019 after he published messages on his social media stating he had plans to set fire to an Islamic centre in Glenrothes.

Police went on to discover that Imrie had been continuously "glorifying" various murderers and terrorists online - including infamous Anders Brevik who had been responsible for the death of 77 people in Norway back in 2011.

Officers also seized an arsenal of weapons from his home in Glenrothes - inlcuding knives, a hammer, nunchucks, an axe and a rifle scope.

Imrie has been convicted of two charges of breaching the terrorist act, the charge of wilful fire raising, as well as possessing child and "extreme" pornography. He was also found guilty of drink-driving.

Lord Mulholland today told him: "You posted on a neo-Nazi chatroom your hatred of Muslim, Jews, black people and refugees.

"You revered neo-Nazi and white supremacists. You lauded their crimes against innocent people.

"You were spreading hate and encouraging others to take terrorist action that you pretended you had.

"Your conduct was despicable. You have no understanding or self-awareness of the hatred that you tried to spread.

Video shot by Imrie of him staking out the Fife Islamic Centre in Glenrothes before setting a fire in a derelict building. (Daily Record)

"Many Muslims died fighting for the alliance in World War Two for the freedoms that you enjoyed.

"I hope you take advantage of your time in custody to remove the hatred from your heart."

Imrie showed no emotion as he was sentenced, and only waved to his mother as he was led back to the cells.

Jurors had heard how Imrie was a loner and had developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after being assaulted when he was younger.

He became "steeped" in right-wing ideology and started to "hate" Muslims after looking at extremist content on websites such as 8Chan and messaging app Telegram.

CCTV of Imrie filming outside the Fife Islamic Centre as he staked it out. (Daily Record)

Imrie posted online: "All my heroes are mass murderers."

His Snapchat username was "N*****killer1488".

As well as idolising Brevik, Imrie was also fascinated with Brenton Tarrant, who killed Muslims praying at a mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019.

Imrie was said to have wanted Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon "to die" because of her attitudes to immigration.

His arrest came after the Metropolitan Police in London infiltrated the "FashWave Artists" group on Telegram, on which Imrie posted messages, images, videos and gifs.

He had posted a series of messages claiming he was going to "burn down" a mosque and live stream it.

Sam Imrie has been jailed. (Daily Record)

The Met contacted Police Scotland and Imrie was held in early July 2019.

The trial heard he went to the Islamic Centre in Glenrothes, but did not do anything.

Imrie instead went to dilapidated Strathmore Lodge, in Thornton, Fife, and set fire to a doorway.

He filmed it and claimed to the group it was a mosque or Islamic centre.

Jurors heard he ended up being "ridiculed" by the online audience.

Imrie had denied the crimes. It was claimed his comments were a joke and that he was not serious about torching a mosque.

But, he was convicted of a terrorism charge of making statements on Telegram and Facebook which encouraged acts of terrorism.

A second charge stated Imrie made a "record of information" which would be useful to somebody who was committing acts of terrorism.

He was acquitted of a terrorism charge which stated that he engaged in conduct in "preparation" of terrorism acts.

Police also confiscated a USB stick from Imrie.

The images contained "extreme" pornographic images, which he was further convicted of.

Jim Keegan QC, defending, today said: “He wrote to his mother to apologise for his behaviour.

“He gave evidence during the trial..he accepts his behaviour was inappropriate, stupid, vile.”

Imrie was also put on the sex offenders list for 10 years.

He was further slapped with a five year serious crime prevention order designed to tackle and monitor criminals when they are freed.

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