'Dangerous' far-right teenager's brutal assault on transgender girl in park
A self-confessed "racist and fascist" teenager attacked a transgender girl in a Swansea park using martial arts moves that left the victim hospitalised and with the imprint of his trainer on her face. Alex Hutton boasted about his assault in a video which was accompanied by far-right imagery.
The Crown Prosecution Service described the 19-year-old as "not simply a fantasist that held extreme views" but as a "dangerous young man" who celebrated terrorist acts of white supremacy and who "poses a substantial risk to other groups and society as a whole". Hutton has now been handed an extended 10-year-and-four-month sentence.
Winchester Crown Court heard it was while specialist counter-terrorism officers were investigating Hutton that they discovered he had carried out an unprovoked attack on a female in a Swansea park in May 2023. At the time Hutton, who also goes by the name Alex Edwards, was subject to a criminal behaviour order restricting his use of the internet and mobile phones after previous convictions for possessing terrorist documents and publishing statements that encouraged terrorism.
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Police used their powers under the order to investigate his phone use and found he had distributed a litany of extreme videos which encouraged and glorified acts of terrorism. These included references to "cleansing London" of non-whites as well as Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, homophobic, and transphobic messages. The Morriston teenager also shared Nazi extremism and racist videos from the Ku Klux Klan, bragged about planning terrorist attacks, and has shared messages on Instagram and messaging app Telegram where he spoke of wanting to kill anybody who wasn’t white.
Alex Hutton had previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, dissemination of a terrorist publication, breaching a criminal behaviour order, and possession of a bladed article on school premises when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has five previous convictions for seven offences including terrorism offences for which he was subject to a criminal behaviour order. The defendant was made the subject to a 10-year-and-four-month extended sentence comprising five years and four months detention in a young offenders institution follow by a five-year licence period..
Speaking after the sentencing detective chief inspector Leanne Williams, head of investigations at Counter-Terrorism Policing Wales, said: “We welcome the outcome of this case. Alex Hutton, motivated by hate, engaged in a horrendous and unprovoked attack on a defenceless young girl who was minding her own business one afternoon in a Swansea park in May 2023.
"There is no doubt that the attack will have lasting effects on this young person and I really hope today’s outcome provides her with some comfort. Furthermore Hutton demonstrated a clear intention to spread his hatred across the internet encouraging acts of terrorism. Officers from Counter-Terrorism Policing Wales uncovered his actions during a detailed investigation which then led us to the assault that took place earlier in the year. I hope he now uses the time in custody to reflect on his actions with a view to leading a far more productive life upon his eventual release.”
Bethan David, head of the counter-terrorism division at the Crown Prosecution Service, said Hutton was "not simply a fantasist that held extreme views" but "a dangerous young man". She said his unprovoked attack was driven by hate and "he poses a substantial risk to other groups and society as a whole" and she said Hutton "celebrated terrorist acts of white supremacy and encouraged his friends and associates on various social media and messaging platforms to join him in his extreme and disturbing views". Chief inspector Lindsey Sweeney from South Wales Police said: "We are delighted with the outcome of this investigation – a case which involved a senseless, violent hate crime. We want to reassure the community that this behaviour will never be tolerated in our area and the perpetrators will be swiftly identified, arrested and duly sent to prison. Here in Swansea we have a great multicultural city which has been demonstrated by a series of fantastic events involving the whole community in recent weeks and months. At South Wales Police we work every day to ensure that the city is a safe and welcoming place for people of all backgrounds.”
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