‘Neo-Nazi’ accused of stirring up ‘racial holy war’ tells court he was ‘framed by former girlfriend’

A neo-Nazi student accused of promoting extremist right-wing groups and using social media to ‘stir up a race war’ told a court he was framed by a former girlfriend. 

Andrew Dymock, 24, from Bath, Somerset, allegedly joined the white supremacist groups Sonnenkrieg Division and System Resistance Network (SRN) between 2017 and 2018.

The student, who is accused of posting virulent anti-semitic content to the now-banned Twitter account of SRN, is also alleged to have created and updated the neo-Nazi website ‘The Lion Rises’.  

However the student said he only shared resources on SRN’s site for his academic research after his ex-girlfriend was expelled from the extremist group.

Dymock, who studied politics at Aberystwyth University, told the court that his ex had deliberately given him the extremist material as well as posted inflammatory content posing as him online to get him charged with terrorism. 

He also claimed that his former girlfriend had been ‘actively trying to recruit’ him into the far-right neo-Nazi terrorist organisation National Action but that he had not realised it at the time.  

The defendant is accused of 15 charges, including 12 terrorism-related alleged offences.

He has denied being behind the accounts and claims he was ‘set up’, the Old Bailey has previously heard. 

Giving evidence today, Dymock said that he told his ex about his research into ‘far right theory’ and ‘far right groups’ but she initially did not disclose she was a member of SRN.       

He said: ‘I didn’t know she was a member of it prior to her being kicked out.’

He claimed that after becoming aware of her membership, he tried to move her away from ‘the Nazi rubbish’, even having her film him burning an SRN flag. 

The defendant continued: ‘I wanted to get [her] away from politics and all of that. I wasn’t happy with her opinions and views and stuff.

‘I wanted to, I wouldn’t say deradicalise her, but just stop her from being this Nazi.’

Jurors heard Dymock messaged her: ‘I had a dream where I went around the Wild West executing f****** with a.44 Magnum revolver.’

But Dymock denied that the slur was in reference to gay people and claimed the dream was simply a response to him watching a Clint Eastwood film the night before.  

Dymock – who identifies as Pagan – told the court his ex was kicked out of SRN after an Orthodox Christian coup removed all Pagans from the organisation.

After her expulsion, he said he asked her to share resources on SRN which he could use on his academic research.

‘She had been kicked out of SRN so obviously she had no use for them,’ said Dymock.

‘Obviously it would have been quite a treasure trove. No journalist would be in a position to get hold of this stuff.’

Jurors heard that Dymock’s former girlfriend visited him at Aberystwyth University and brought along her laptop and ‘a number of USB sticks’.

The student said: ‘She took the files out of her laptop, she put them in these USB sticks, there were two of them. She put the USB sticks into [my laptop].’

Dymock told the court that his ex had deliberately given him the material as well as posted inflammatory content posing as him online to get him charged with terrorism.

‘She is central to these attacks on me, to deliberately incriminate me,’ said Dymock.

He claimed she had been ‘actively trying to recruit’ into National Action but that he didn’t realise at the time.

‘She failed to recruit me into National Action and of course my testimony would have put her in prison for recruiting for a prescribed organisation,’ said Dymock

Yesterday, Dymock claimed he joined online Alt Right groups on Discord as part of his research for his dissertation. 

He also said he never ran the Neo-Nazi ‘The Lion Rises’ website, claiming that a purchase in his name from the WordPress platform was simply him buying some music editing software. 

He also claimed that he owned several copies of Hitler’s Mein Kampf because of a module he was taking in university as well as his dissertation research. 

Earlier this month, jurors heard that police had found flags, clothing, books and badges all of which had links to far-right groups at Dymock’s home and university lodgings when they arrested him.  

Jurors were also shown a stream of SRN tweets which included images that were later recovered from devices seized from Dymock’s bedroom.

On November 11 2017, a tweet featuring an image of a German SS soldier hailed those who fought for ‘Europe’s freedom against Jewish Bolshevism and Capitalism’. 

Jurors also viewed other tweets which contained apparent homophobic, racist, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic language.  

Jocelyn Ledward, prosecuting, said: ‘The prosecution say he used the social media platforms to raise money for the group and to encouraged others to participate in terrorist activity and stir up hatred in their communities.

‘System Resistance Network, or SRN, was a group which preached zero-tolerance to non-whites, Jewish and Muslim communities. The group describes homosexuality as a disease. Its clarion call was for the expulsion of minorities and a white revolution.

‘Its online campaign comprising virulently racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic propaganda sought to stir up a race war against ethnic minorities and others that it perceived as race traitors. ‘ 

Dymock denies being behind the online activity, claiming that he has been ‘set up’ by others.

He further claims the material found at his address were for ‘academic’ and personal interest reasons rather than terrorism purposes.

Dymock, of Bath, denies five counts of encouraging terrorism, four of disseminating terrorist publications, two of terrorist fundraising, one of possessing material useful to a terrorist, one of possessing racially inflammatory material, one of stirring up racial hatred, and one of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.

The trial continues.