Far-right activist denies raising son, named after Hitler, as ‘miniature Nazi’
Adam Thomas, who is accused of being in the neo-Nazi terror group National Action, says far-right activism 'can devastate your life'
An alleged far-right terrorist who named his baby son after Hitler has told a jury it was not his goal to raise a “miniature Nazi”.
Adam Thomas, who is accused of being a member of banned group National Action, said being involved in far-right activism and politics “can devastate your life”, adding he has made “mistakes”.
The 22-year-old, who is a self-confessed racist, has previously accepted he gave his son the middle name Adolf because of his “admiration” of Hitler.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court have previously seen a photograph said to be of Thomas in his Ku Klux Klan robes and cradling his baby.
He is on trial alongside his partner, Claudia Patatas, 38, of Waltham Gardens, Banbury, Oxfordshire, who are both accused of being members of the proscribed organisation, which was banned in December 2016.
Their co-defendant Daniel Bogunovic, 27, of Crown Hills Rise, Leicester, is also in the dock facing the same membership charge.
When officers searched the couple’s address they found an extensive collection of weaponry including two machetes, crossbows and an axe, together with flags and pendants associated with National Action.
The group was prohibited by then-Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who described it as a “racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation, which stirs up hatred”.
The Crown’s case is that, after the ban, former members, including the three on trial, took the organisation underground and “shed one skin for another”.
Thomas was repeatedly asked on Monday by prosecuting barrister Barnaby Jameson QC if, in naming his son Adolf, he was “looking to raise a miniature Nazi”.
The former Amazon warehouse security guard said he was not, adding: “I wouldn’t encourage him to engage in any kind of activism or far-right politics at all.
“Getting involved in the far right can devastate your life, it has cost me the first year of my child’s life, my house, my job – if I could turn back the clock I would.
“I don’t wish to push my mistakes on my own child.”
Thomas also described Thomas Mair, who murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, as “an absolute idiot” who had achieved “nothing” through the killing.
He was asked about remarks made in a Telegram chat group on April 4 2017 in which he and others, including Patatas, were talking.
The discussion turned to a concert by the rapper Stormzy, prompting Patatas to have allegedly said: “I would happily tie them all together and set them on fire.”
Another member in the group then said: “A dead n***** necklace?”, prompting Patatas to reply: “Ha.”
Mr Jameson asked Thomas, stood in the witness box wearing a striped blue suit: “Who is Stormzy? What colour is he?”
Thomas replied: “He’s a rapper. He’s black.”
Reading out Patatas’ comment, Mr Jameson asked: “Who is she referring to?”
Thomas replied: “Claudia wouldn’t do that though, she wouldn’t harm a fly.”
Mr Jameson told the jury the practice of “necklacing” was associated with race violence against black people in apartheid South Africa, where a “flaming tyre” was placed around a person’s neck.
He asked Thomas: “I suggest that you and Miss Patatas both had something in common – a shared hatred of people you both referred to as n*****s.”
Thomas, who is originally from Sutton Coldfield and grew up in Birmingham, referred to a previous answer he had given the Crown’s QC, in which he said: “It’s not a crime.
“I’d like to know where we are going with this because so far we haven’t seen a single piece of evidence of any criminal activity.”
Referring to other remarks within the private chat group, he described it as all as “trolling” designed to shock, including remarks about “killing gays”.
Thomas said: “It’s just a sick joke isn’t it?”
He added: “I can only apologise to the jury and my lord (the judge) for being exposed to these kind of comments and derogatory terms.
“It still doesn’t constitute a crime, as morally abhorrent as it is.”
Asked if he was a Holocaust denier, he replied it was “a complicated matter”.
Mr Jameson, opening the case earlier this month, said: “The Crown say all the defendants in this case along with those that have pleaded guilty or been convicted were cut from the same National Action cloth.
“They were fanatical, highly motivated, energetic, closely-linked and mobile.”
Asked about those who have already been convicted or admitted being members of National Action, Thomas replied they may have had “the wrong jury”.
He added: “Some people would just not be willing to listen, just think ‘you’re a racist, I’m convicting you’, end of (story).”
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