Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell avoided jail after being found guilty of intimidating a police officer and his wife. Photo / Getty Images
Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell has avoided jail in Australia after seeking to “weaponise” personal information to intimidate a police officer who allegedly tried to pull down face coverings at a protest.
The 32-year-old leader of the National Socialist Network (NSN), who was born in New Zealand, returned to the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday afternoon after two weeks of hearings on seven charges.
On the second day of the hearings, Sewell was remanded into custody on charges he was involved in storming Camp Sovereignty during an anti-immigration rally on August 31.
Entering court wearing a black jacket bearing the NSN emblem on one sleeve and the Union Jack in the shape of a shield on the other, Sewell greeted about a dozen supporters with a smile and wave.
Handing down her verdicts, Magistrate Michelle Hodgson found Sewell guilty on two charges of using intimidation towards a law enforcement officer and one count of intimidating the officer’s wife.
He was also found guilty of two counts of breaching a person safety intervention order made to protect the officer by publishing information about them.
But Hodgson found Sewell not guilty of two counts of getting another person to publish information about the officer and his wife and a separate charge of failing to provide police with the access code for his phone.
One member of Sewell’s outfit was arrested leaving court for the lunch break. Others were barred from re-entering the building.
After the verdicts, prosecutors called for him to be given a jail term over the offending, while Sewell, who was representing himself, argued a fine was appropriate.
Sewell submitted his “malicious utterances” about the officer were at the lower end of the scale of seriousness.
“In terms of rationale for the offending, I think it’s very clear and evident that I was extremely frustrated and that I was angry,” he said.
Melissa Mahady, for the prosecution, said the offending was inherently serious, arguing Sewell’s threat to “dox” the officer and his wife was a “serious threat”.
Sentencing Sewell, Hodgson denounced his actions and said his history of violence suggests a willingness to disregard the safety of others.
“The evidence suggests in your own mind you view the conduct as lawful activism rather than criminal intimidation,” she said.
“[But] it is the court’s role to determine the boundaries of lawful conduct.”
Hodgson rejected his claim the offending was on the lower end of seriousness, saying words can be a “potent form of intimidation and don’t require an overt threat for the conduct to be considered serious”.
Sewell was sentenced to 200 hours of community service to be served over 18 months after his release from custody.
He will not be released as he remains on remand on other charges.
Throughout the proceedings, Hodgson made it clear Sewell was not on trial for his political views.
Outlining the facts of the case, the magistrate said Sewell first encountered the officer when his group counter-protested a refugee rally in Melbourne on October 22 last year.
A day later he appeared on a video podcast hosted by NSN associate Joel Davies, where he claimed he identified the officer as the police member responsible for attempting to pull down face coverings of NSN protesters.
Sewell described the officer as a “f***ing idiot” and said his group had found photos and information about the man, his family and home online.
“We’re working out how to dox him because those doxing laws haven’t come in yet,” he said.
“We’ve got it all downloaded, we’ve got it all saved.”
The officer and his wife said the comments left them feeling scared for their safety and targeted by Sewell.
Hodgson said the evidence was clear the man and his wife felt “deep distress and concern” after learning about the contents of the podcasts.
In a police interview, Sewell claimed he was trying to “publicly shame” the officer, alleging his conduct was illegal.
“You’re charging me with gossiping,” he claimed.
Victoria Police served a personal safety intervention order barring Sewell from publishing information about the officer and his wife on November 7.
But later the same day Sewell again appeared on the podcast, speaking about the personal safety order and referencing the officer again.
Hodgson found he “understood precisely” his words could be viewed as menacing.
She rejected Sewell’s arguments the comments were made without malice and represented political communication or lawful commentary on public affairs.
“By contrast Mr Sewell’s conduct was marked by targeting the private life [of the officer]. There were threats of doxing... evidence of personal animosity; calling him a f***ing asshole,” she said.
Speaking about his personal life, Sewell told the court he grew up in Melbourne where his family was based but does not have good relations with his brother.
He said he spent two and a half years in the Australian army after leaving high school and completed part of an engineering degree before changing to “focus on politics”.
He said he was unjustly fired from his job as a youth counsellor for high-risk children in 2015 because of his beliefs and had since had half a dozen jobs in the construction industry.
Sewell argued any prison time would “negatively affect” his young family. He told the court he takes a small living allowance from the NSN, which he described as a political movement with community events and a home-schooling network.
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