Youths who damaged Windrush Mural and rolled smoke bomb into The Queer Emporium sentenced following terrorism investigation in South Wales

Two youths from South Wales have been sentenced following an investigation carried out by Counter Terrorism Policing Wales.

The two came to the attention of CTPW officers in 2022, after both subjects carried our several offences of racially and homophobically aggravated criminal damage, over several months throughout South Wales. Amongst the damage, extreme right-wing graffiti was daubed on a Windrush Mural in port Talbot and a smoke bomb was rolled into The Queer Emporium which is an LGBTQ+ business in Cardiff City Centre.

On Wednesday the 7th of June 2023, 17-year-old Aristedes Miles Haynes from Port-Talbot appeared before Westminster Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to three hate-crime offences and five terrorism offences. The terrorism charges relate to instructional publications, which the male had distributed to his associates online. He was bailed for sentencing.

The 17-year-old subsequently appeared before the Central Criminal Court on Thursday the 21st of September 2023 and received a custodial sentence of one year 220 days, a one-year extended licence, three years Community Behavioural Order and ten years Part 4 notification.

Previously, on Tuesday the 15th of August, the second subject, a 15-year-old boy from Tonyrefail appeared at Cardiff Youth Court, and pleaded guilty to the following offences:

1 x criminal damage contrary to sections 1(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971.
4 x racially aggravated criminal damage contrary to section 30(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

He was issued a Referral Order for the period of one year, a Criminal Behaviour Order for the period of two years and ordered to pay a £100 compensation to The Queer Emporium.

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Williams from Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, said:

“This was an extremely detailed investigation, carried out by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, and involved examining not only the overt activities of the two boys, but also their online behaviour. For the older boy in particular, it became evident that he was also involved in the online distribution of extreme right-wing material, which clearly fell into the space governed by terrorism legislation.

The offences were particularly abhorrent in nature and understandably caused upset to many people, both within the communities the boys targeted, and beyond. The sentencing today concludes the investigation and enables professionals to work intensively with them in the hope that they can lead far more productive lives in their respective futures”.

We urge anyone who sees extremist content to report their concerns by completing the confidential form at www.gov.uk/ACT, or by calling police in confidence on 0800 789321.