A Bradford man has been jailed for possessing far-right terrorist documents, including firearms manuals and violent neo-Nazi propaganda.
Ondrej Sidelka, 21, of Elwyn Road in the Bowling area of Bradford, appeared at Leeds Crown Court on April 11 where he pleaded guilty to eight counts of possessing information likely to be useful to someone committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000. A separate charge of disseminating terrorist material under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006 was discontinued.
Sidelka was sentenced to two years in prison and will serve a further year on licence upon release. He will also be subject to a Terrorism Notification Order for 10 years.
The offences came to light in November 2022 when Sidelka was arrested for an unrelated matter. Upon examination of his mobile phone, officers discovered an extensive archive of extreme far-right content stored in his Google Drive and Dropbox accounts.
The material included racist, Islamophobic, antisemitic and neo-Nazi material, as well as several instruction manuals detailing how to manufacture firearms, explosives and poisons.
Following this discovery, officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North East arrested Sidelka again in May 2023. Their investigation revealed a disturbing fascination with homemade firearms and terrorist violence.
Among the content Sidelka had collected was the graphic video of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack in New Zealand, where Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant murdered 51 Muslim worshippers.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
He had also stored propaganda from proscribed far-right terrorist groups including Atomwaffen Division, Feuerkrieg Division and Terrorgram.
Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “The shocking and disturbing racist material Sidelka downloaded, as well as his interest in extreme violence and manufacturing homemade firearms, show the threat he posed to the community.
“The efforts he made to disguise his true identity online, and to post opinions on social media which were not as extreme as those he held in private, indicate that he knew how unacceptable his views really were.”
He added: “Sidelka was 18 at the time he committed these offences. Young people are particularly vulnerable when it comes to being influenced by hateful and harmful ideologies online.”
