A Warwickshire man has been jailed for two years after admitting offences involving threatening online material intended to stir up hatred on the grounds of religion and sexual orientation, according to Counter Terrorism Policing.
Thomas Webster, 29, of Yew Tree Close in Lapworth, came to the attention of investigators after appearing in a BBC Wales documentary broadcast in January 2025.
The programme followed an undercover journalist who had spent a year with a far-right group and included footage of Webster discussing extreme views and talking about making video guides concerning different racial groups. Information following the broadcast was passed to Counter Terrorism Police in the West Midlands, which opened an investigation focusing particularly on material Webster had posted to social media.
He was arrested in September 2025 and later charged with 12 public order offences relating to racial hatred, religious hatred and hatred based on sexual orientation. The charges concerned material posted across six social media accounts between September 2024 and September 2025.
Counter Terrorism Policing said investigators examined a large volume of material before a selection of charges was presented to the Crown Prosecution Service to represent the offending identified during the investigation. Webster pleaded guilty at Coventry Magistrates’ Court on 5 August to posting online material using threatening words or behaviour intended to stir up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, together with a further offence involving material intended to stir up religious hatred.
Further material was shown to the court during sentencing, with police saying it demonstrated that the views behind the offences were not confined to individual social media posts.
Detective Chief Superintendent Alison Hurst, head of Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands, said: “I hope the fact that he is now serving a prison sentence sends a clear message that extreme racist views and promoting serious violence is completely unacceptable in our society and it simply will not be tolerated.”
She also thanked the BBC for the documentary, which she said had assisted the subsequent police investigation. Webster was sentenced to two years in prison.
