Covid conspiracy theorist jailed for terrorism offences after encouraging violence against Chris Whitty
11 November 2024, 12:39
A Covid conspiracy theorist has been sentenced to five years behind bars after encouraging violence against Professor Sir Chris Whitty on social media.
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Patrick Ruane, 55, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of two charges of encouraging terrorism after calling for the use of weapons, guns and explosives against the Chief Medical Officer.
In a series of Telegram posts he suggested "whacking" Sir Chris with a rounders bat and regularly posted about killing politicians.
Sentencing on Monday, Judge Richard Marks KC said Ruane's messages were "extremely dangerous" during a volatile time.
The judge said the defendant could not be sure that people would not act out what was said in the messages.
Ruane was “compulsive and obsessive” about vaccines and would often be “blind drunk” when posting violent threats towards Sir Chris.
The judge also acknowledged Ruane's childhood trauma and alcohol dependence.
He added: "The overwhelming view around the world was that the vaccines were hugely effectively in saving lives. You and others, however, did not share that opinion.
"You were, of course, fully entitled to publicly vent your views and to do so in an extremely cogent and forceful way, if you chose.
"You, however, went very much further and in so doing committed the offences of which you were convicted."
Among those targeted by Ruane where Sir Chris and vaccine developer Pfizer, the court had previously heard.
Ruane had replied to a post about Sir Chris, saying: "The weakest point of the scull (sic) is the back of the scull (sic) and all it would take is riding a bike very fast and whacking target over the back of head with a rounders bat but a mace (a piece of metal ball and chain) would be way better."
He said this "would turn said target into a vegetable for the rest of its life".
Ruane would often post about the murder of politicians, at one point writing a sniper "could end corrupt politicians and Davos scum in one shot".
He believed conspiracy theories about a "hidden agenda" and was particularly focused on manufacturers of the Covid vaccine and those who administered jabs, she said.
In one post, Ruane wrote that he was "all for hunting them down and f****** executing them", saying "too many people" had died and "it's not going to stop until we start killing them back".
In response to the creator of the AstraZeneca vaccine getting a standing ovation at Wimbledon, he commented: "It's a shame there was not a sharp shooter to take that f****** POS (piece of shit) out."
Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker said that Ruane was "angry, frustrated and upset" about lockdown policies and the vaccine rollout.
When someone posted about not allowing a "satanist puppet" to come near his children with "that poison jab kill shots", the defendant encouraged others to "find where they live, put a kill squad together and shoot" them in their beds.
In response to another post, he advocated burning "all the big pharmas' offices, manufacturing plants and infrastructure" to the ground.
Ruane, an audio producer who worked in films, posted images of Semtex explosive and when asked about delivery, wrote: "Why deliver when you can make it yourself."
The posts reached a "very large audience" through two Telegram chat groups, one of which had 18,000 users and the other 8,000.
Ruane, of Westbourne Terrace, Paddington, west London, was cleared of collecting information useful to a terrorist, relating to a manual entitled Anon - How To Make A Jolly Roger which was said to include viable instructions on making Semtex.
He had denied the charges against him and claimed his film work gave him a reasonable excuse for having the manual with Semtex instructions.
Upon his arrest, Acting Commander Gareth Rees, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “Our investigation found large numbers of posts by Ruane where he was encouraging others to carry out extremely violent acts, all because he didn’t like the government’s response to the pandemic. This wasn’t idle chit-chat online – he was encouraging people to seriously injure or kill others, suggesting who to target.
“This case should serve as a warning that if you’re encouraging people to commit acts of terrorism, then we will investigate. Where we find evidence of this, then there are very serious consequences, something that Ruane is now facing.”
Bethan David, Head of Counter Terrorism Division, at the Crown Prosecution Service added: “This is a dangerous man who was prolific in encouraging violence because of his firmly held beliefs in a conspiracy theory.
“During a time when the nation was suffering a devastating pandemic and many lost loved ones, Patrick Ruane was using Telegram to spread false and damaging information and encourage violence and terrorism.
“He posed a credible threat to the peace and safety of the public, and it is only right that he has been found guilty today. The CPS will always seek to prosecute such appalling criminal behaviour whether carried out in person or online to keep the public safe.”
