A neo-Nazi who was ordered to read Jane Austen novels instead of going to prison has been jailed following an appeal.
Ben John, 22, was convicted last year of possessing a terrorist document and given a two-year suspended sentence, but was earlier today was told by the Court of Appeal he would serve his two-year term in prison, after his initial sentence was found to be 'unduly lenient'.
John was found guilty after a court heard that he had downloaded nearly 70,000 white supremacist and neo-Nazi documents, as well as bomb-making instructions, including a copy of The Anarchist Cookbook.
However the judge who handed down his original sentence in September said that he believed John's actions were 'an act of teenage folly', and proposed that John instead read classic literature like Pride and Prejudice.
Judge Timothy Spencer had labelled John a 'sad fantasist', before asking him, 'Have you read Dickens? Austen? Start with Pride and Prejudice and Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Think about Hardy. Think about Trollope.'
He was also referred to the government's Prevent programme targeting those at risk of extremist radicalisation, however the Court of Appeal heard that 'within a week' of receiving the unorthodox sentence, John had 'resumed his interest in the far right'.
'He began liking Nazi posts online and other extremist activity five days after promising the judge he had put it behind him,' solicitor general Alex Chalk told the court, per The Independent.
Chalk added that John had accessed some 'very troubling' far-right extremist material 'as recently as this month'.
The case had been referred to the Court of Appeal by the attorney general after the decision sparked heavy criticism and debate. Following the appeal, the court agreed that the total sentence handed to John had amounted to three years, with current sentencing guidelines meaning sentences longer than two years cannot be suspended.
In his ruling, Court of Appeals Judge Lord Justice Holroyde said that while the original judge's decision to spare a then 21-year-old John time in prison was 'understandable', the court was 'satisfied there must be a sentence of immediate imprisonment'.
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Hannah Smith