Former HMRC worker sentenced to two years for online hate incitement

Thomas Webster, a 29-year-old former HMRC employee from Lapworth, Warwickshire, was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to ten counts of inciting racial hatred and additional offences targeting religious and sexual-orientation groups. The court heard that Webster, a member of the far-right group Patriotic Alternative, had posted threats calling for the extermination of Jews, Muslims, gay people and other non-white groups, and even boasted of violent actions against migrants.

His extremist statements were recorded by an undercover reporter for the programme "Unmasked: Extreme Far Right," leading to his dismissal from HMRC in February 2025. Police traced the hateful posts to his accounts on X and a Substack blog, some of which remained online after his guilty plea. The investigation also uncovered praise for Adolf Hitler and calls for the killing of prominent politicians. Following the notification, X removed many of the posts, while Substack took down most of the content after being alerted.