Home Affairs Correspondent
A far-right extremist who said he wanted to kill Muslims until they were “globally extinct” has been jailed for two years after pleading guilty to 12 offences involving the stirring up of racial, religious and homophobic hatred.
Thomas Webster, 29, from Lapworth, Warwickshire, was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on September 7 following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands into racist and threatening material posted online.
A member of the far-right group Patriotic Alternative, Webster admitted 10 counts of publishing written material intended to stir up racial hatred, along with offences involving religious hatred and hatred on grounds of sexual orientation.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said he repeatedly published material advocating violence against people because of their race, religion or sexuality over a 12-month period while promoting white supremacist views.
His posts appeared on multiple X and Substack accounts. Earlier accounts had been closed for breaches involving hateful conduct and violent speech.
Among the material cited in court was Webster’s statement that he wanted to kill Muslims until they were “globally extinct”. He also expressed a desire for Jewish and gay people to be tortured and executed and advocated violence against other racial and ethnic groups.
In another post, he said that if a migrant hotel were established on his road, he would “prepare for murder and prison time”.
The CPS said the offending went beyond legitimate debate or freedom of expression and involved material intended to generate hatred and fear.
The investigation followed the BBC Wales documentary Unmasked: Extreme Far Right, broadcast in January 2025, in which an undercover journalist spent a year investigating Patriotic Alternative. Webster was secretly recorded at two of the group’s events in 2024.
Information from the investigation was passed to Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands, which examined Webster’s online activity and identified offending material across six social media accounts posted between September 2024 and September 2025.
Warwickshire Police said the 12 charges represented only a selection of the evidence because of the volume of material uncovered.
Webster was arrested in September 2025 and pleaded guilty at Coventry Magistrates’ Court on August 5, 2026.
The court heard that Webster had previously been referred to the government’s Prevent counter-extremism programme four times, with his first referral reportedly made in 2017 because of his association with a far-right group. He had also previously been investigated over racially aggravated offences.
Police searching his home found a crossbow, still in its packaging, in the attic.
Judge Anthony Potter said Webster had been given numerous opportunities to demonstrate remorse and change his behaviour.
“Talk is very, very cheap,” the judge told him.
He said Webster’s online activity had allowed him to “escalate your offending and propagate the most harmful views”.
“I cannot accept that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in the community,” Judge Potter said.
Webster was sentenced to two years in prison, with half the sentence to be served in custody and the remainder on licence.
The case also revealed that Webster had previously worked for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
During the BBC undercover investigation, he was recorded claiming that he deliberately discriminated against non-white members of the public in his work, saying he liked to give them “bad information which sounds interesting” and that he was “deliberately trying to sabotage them”.
The CPS confirmed that Webster had boasted about discriminating against non-white people through his work at HMRC. The department launched disciplinary proceedings and dismissed him in February 2025, shortly after the documentary was broadcast.
HMRC said it had taken the matter “extremely seriously” and acted decisively.
Frank Ferguson, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said Webster had repeatedly published violent statements intended to generate hatred and fear.
“Thomas Webster was vehement in his hatred of people whose race or sexuality did not fit with his extremist ideals,” Ferguson said.
“This is a serious crime and those who promote, encourage or condone violence against others will be prosecuted.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Alison Hurst, head of Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands, said the sentence should send a clear message that promoting serious violence would not be tolerated.
She also thanked the BBC for its investigation, saying it helped bring Webster’s activities to the attention of counter-terrorism police.
The 12 offences covered racial, religious and sexual-orientation hatred. The anti-Muslim statements formed part of the evidence but were not the sole basis for his sentence.
Feature photo: Thomas Webster, 29, who was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to 12 offences involving the stirring up of racial, religious and homophobic hatred. (Credit: Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands)
