National Action: Black Country man denies being member of banned far-right group
A Black Country man has appeared in court where he denied being a member of banned far-right group National Action.
Darren Fletcher, from Wednesfield, was one of six people who appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court this morning after being arrested by counter-terror officers.
Fletcher, aged 28; Nathan Pryke, 26; Adam Thomas, 21; Claudia Patatas, 38; Daniel Bogunovic, 26; and 24-year-old Joel Wilmore all pleaded not guilty.
The charges relate to belonging to the banned group between December 17 2016 and September 5 last year.
All six were charged after an inquiry involving the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, supported by colleagues in four other regions.
A short-haired Fletcher, who wore a grey tracksuit, also faces five counts of breaching an anti-social behaviour order.
Indicating his not guilty plea, a bearded Bogunovic, wearing a navy and grey cardigan, said: "I intend to clear my good name and to fight these charges from start to finish, not guilty."
Bogunovic is also charged with intending to stir up racial hatred by posting National Action-branded stickers at the Aston University campus in Birmingham.
He indicated a not guilty plea to that charge.
Thomas, who sported a shaved head, indicated a not guilty plea to possessing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, namely the Anarchist Cookbook.
The five men gave their identities as British while Patatas, who wore a grey tracksuit and glasses, told the court she is Portuguese.
Fletcher, of Kitchen Lane, Wednesfield; Thomas and Patatas, both of Waltham Gardens, Banbury, Oxfordshire; Pryke, of Dartford Road, March, Cambridgeshire; Bogunovic, of Crown Hills Rise, Leicester; and Wilmore, of Bramhall Moor Lane, Hazel Grove, Stockport, were arrested last Wednesday.
The decision by the Government to ban National Action came into force in December 2016, making membership of the group a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years' imprisonment.
At the time the ban was brought in, the Home Office said the neo-Nazi group was the first far-right organisation to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
All six are due to appear next at the Old Bailey on January 19.
