Student jailed for 16 months after spraying Nazi graffiti across Cardiff
2 December 2019, 18:11
A student who sprayed Nazi graffiti on buildings across Cardiff has been jailed for 16 months.
Elliott Richards-Good pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court in July to 11 charges, including stirring up racial hatred and racially aggravated criminal damage.
The 20-year-old from Cheltenham arrived to study at Cardiff University in 2018, when racist and homophobic literature and graffiti began appearing around the city.
Officers from the Wales Extremism Counter Terrorism Unit (WECTU) tracked down Richards-Good after tracing him on CCTV footage.
He was arrested at his address in Cheltenham in September 2018, with officers recovering spray paint, gloves and clothing.
Police also discovered posters from System Resistance Network (SRN), a far-right movement with links to banned groups National Action and NS131, at his home.
Laptops, a computer tower and extreme right-wing books were also recovered, as well as handwritten notes with email addresses and passwords linked to SRN.
South Wales Police said evidence showed he had targeted events by the anti-racism group Stand Up to Racism and was actively recruiting members to SRN.
Detective Superintendent Noel Harris, Head of WECTU, said: "Cardiff is a welcoming and vibrant multicultural city and Richards-Goods' abhorrent views and actions rightly caused great concern amongst the local community.
"Our officers were determined to apprehend the person responsible as quickly as possible, both in order to prevent further offending and to send out a message to the community - and the minority who share Richards-Good's racist ideologies - that it will not be tolerated.
"Richards-Good was actively recruiting others to join the SRN, who are extremely tech-savvy and go to great lengths to avoid detection by the authorities.
"Unfortunately for him, he didn't follow his own advice and it was his own footage and material which helped convict him."
