Two members of a neo-Nazi group found with instructions on how to carry out a terrorist attack have been sentenced to more than two years behind bars.
Key points:
- Duncan Cromb and Jackson Pay were arrested in 2021
- They had multiple documents explaining how to commit a terrorist act
- The judge described their offences as “abhorrent and distressing”
Judge Joanne Tracey labelled the men’s offences as “abhorrent and distressing” and said it was difficult to know if the sentence would deter future offending.
Duncan Robert Cromb, 38, and Jackson Trevor Pay, 23, pleaded guilty to possessing documents and records of information for terrorist acts.
Cromb, who is already in custody, has been sentenced to two years, six months and 19 days in jail, while Pay was sentenced to two years and one month behind bars.
Cromb and Pay received non-parole-periods of 18 months and 14 months respectively.
The court heard they were members of the National Socialist Network, which operated under the name “SA Men’s Health Club”, when they were arrested in 2021.
Both men were arrested in possession of multiple documents containing instructions on how to commit a terrorist act, examples of successful terrorist acts and information based on “racist ideologies”.
Pay, who moved to Western Australia, was also found in possession of documents that sought to justify the Christchurch attack, September 11 attacks and Snowtown murders.
“More recently you said you support the ‘revolutions’ led by Hitler and Mussolini … explaining they didn’t rely on guerilla warfare,” Judge Tracey told the court.
Pay initially told the court he did not understand the books were methods of assassination, and thought they contained strategies to “organise people” and “make friends”.
Cromb was found in possession of advanced strategies to commit terrorist attacks including bombings and assassinations, and one document that stated: “It’s better to kill too many people, than not enough”.
When police conducted a searched of Cromb’s room, they also located a large amount of propaganda “showing your commitment to the nationalist, racist extremist ideology, both in hard copy and across multiple electronic devices,” Judge Tracey said.
“Recordings of the Christchurch terrorist attack … images consistent with supremacist ideology … handwritten sketches and white supremacy stickers.”
Previously, Pay’s lawyer Stacey Carter read an apology on behalf of her client in which Pay stated “I’m not a terrorist”.
“His core belief really is that he wants to secure an existence for white people,” she said.
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