Soldier who kept knives, knuckledusters and Nazi memorabilia has been cleared of hate crimes
Corporal Mikko Vehvilainen, 33, a self confessed racist and white supremacist, was cleared of inciting racial hatred
A SOLDIER who kept a stash of Nazi memorabilia and weapons has been cleared of terror offences and hate crimes.
Royal Anglian regiment corporal Mikko Vehvilainen had an SS dagger, a crossbow, knuckledusters and a photo of himself giving a Nazi salute.
Cops also discovered a swastika flag, Adolf Hitler stickers, and a CD containing Third Reich music along with machetes and a large knife and a hammer.
The white supremacist, 33, from Brecon, Powys, admitted possessing a CS gas canister.
Birmingham Crown Court also heard how he supposedly created a draft of a magazine named ‘Extinction’ in which he discussed "genocide being forced upon the whites" and the need to create "all-white strongholds" ahead of a race war.
After a five-week trial, a jury cleared him of possessing a document likely to be useful to someone committing an act of terrorism - namely mass killer Anders Breivik’s manifesto.
Discussing the moments immediately after Vehvilainen’s arrest Duncan Atkinson QC, prosecuting, said: “Vehvilainen was taken upstairs to get dressed and it was noted that when he opened a cupboard, that there was a flag inside with a swastika.
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“The prosecution suggest that these items were found because Vehvilainen was putting into effect, quite literally, a call to arms to those like him who wanted to create a white-only society.”
Vehvilainen’s barrister Pavlos Panayi QC told jurors it was “not in dispute that he Vehvilainen was a racist" but that it was not a crime simply to hold such views.
He will be sentenced at Birmingham crown court today — alongside a civilian, 23, convicted of three terror charges.
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