Met Police Officer convicted of belonging to terror group
First British police officer to be convicted
Last updated 1st Apr 2021
A Metropolitan Police officer has become the first British police officer to be convicted of belonging to a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation
Probationary police constable Ben Hannam was found guilty of membership of banned right-wing extremist group National Action.
The 22 year-old was also convicted of lying on his application and vetting forms to join the Met and having terror documents detailing knife combat and making explosive devices.
A jury deliberated for more than 32 hours to find Hannam guilty (on Thursday).
Commander Richard Smith of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said:
“The public expect police officers to carry out their duties with the very highest levels of honesty and integrity. Sadly, PC Hannam showed none of these qualities, firstly by joining and engaging with a far-right proscribed organisation, and then when he lied about his past links to this group when applying to become a police officer.
“Thankfully, as part of a wider proactive investigation by officers in the Counter Terrorism Command, we were able to identify PC Hannam as being a member of a proscribed group and when we linked his online profile to his real-world identity, we quickly moved to arrest him.
“PC Hannam was a young man when he was radicalised and seduced online by this toxic ideology. Now, more than ever we need friends and family to look out for those who might be vulnerable to radicalisation and if you have concerns, then please, ACT Early and contact us in confidence, as we can help before it is too late.”
Hannam had been working as a probationary officer for the Metropolitan Police for nearly two years before he was found on a leaked database of users of an extreme right-wing forum.
He had signed up to the forum when he joined the London branch of neo-Nazi group NA in March 2016.
The court heard that on 6 March 2016, Hannam attended a National Action meeting in a pub in Paddington and that until the summer of 2017, he had continued to attend various activities and events organised by the group.
On 19 July 2017 he applied to join the Met, and then later in October, he submitted the associated vetting form as part of that process. On his application and vetting forms Hannam lied that he had no associations with or membership of extreme right wing groups. Had he been honest, this would have automatically precluded him from joining the MPS.
All known involvement by PC Hannam with National Action had ended by 30 September 2017, prior to the start of his police training on 26 March 2018.
NA was proscribed on December 16 2016, after it glorified the murder of MP Jo Cox.
Hannam, of Edmonton, north London, is currently suspended from duty. He will be sentenced later this month (April).