Former UKIP candidate denies inciting others to commit terrorism through online podcast

TWO men have denied inciting others to carry out acts of terrorism through an online podcast.

Tyrone Patten-Walsh, 33, a former UKIP council election candidate from Romford and Christopher Gibbons, 38, from Carshalton, south London, each denied an offence of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism at the Old Bailey on Friday.

The alleged offences relate to their hosting of a podcast series called Black Wolf Radio between March 2019 and February 2020, as exclusively revealed by Essex News and Investigations last month.

The indictments state: "(You) published a statement that was likely to be understood by some or all of the members of the public to whom it was published as a direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement to them to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism or convention offences and at the time when you published it you intended members of the public to be, or were reckless as to whether they would be directly or indirectly encouraged or otherwise induced by the statement to commit, prepare or instigate acts of terrorism."

Gibbons also denied an offence of the dissemination of terrorist publications, contrary to section two of the Terrorism Act 2006, at the same hearing.

A trial date of May 3, 2022 was set, with both defendants to be tried at Kingston Crown Court.

Prosecuting Adam Harbinson said the evidence would be served on the defendants’ lawyers over several months because investigators are going through “tens, if not hundreds, of hours” of audio material.

Mr Justice Sweeney granted them bail on condition that they live and sleep at their home addresses and surrender their passports to police.

A CPS spokesman said: "They are alleged to have been co-hosting an extreme right wing podcast series called Black Wolf Radio. A Met Police spokesman said: "The charges following their arrest on 18 May 2021, as part of an investigation led by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command. The charges relate to extreme right wing terrorism."

Patten-Walsh was a candidate for UKIP in the Havering Council elections in east London in 2018.

It is not clear if he is still a member of UKIP and the party did not respond to requests for comment.