Former National Action member jailed

Former National Action member David Musins has been sentenced to three years in prison, with a further year on extended licence, for remaining a member of the proscribed terror group.

Musins, 36, was arrested at his home on 10 November 2021 after enquiries were carried out by counter terrorism detectives.

He pleaded guilty on March 14 to remaining a member of a proscribed organisation contrary to section 11 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Rejecting his plea for a suspended sentence, the judge said: "Your involvement in the organisation was substantial."

The Met stated that following proscription, Musins continued his activities with a rebranded variant of National Action called NS131 throughout 2017.

During the search of his house in November that year, officers found black clothing, black face coverings decorated with skulls, black sunglasses, spray paint cans, boxing gloves and a groin guard. A USB stick which documented his time at the far-right Legion training camp. Musins was pictured with others giving a Nazi salute above an NS131 banner in August 2017.

Commander Richard Smith, of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said:

“This was a detailed investigation which led to an admission of guilt and the team should be highly commended.

“Outwardly, Musins was unremarkable but secretly he willingly joined and took part in activities run by an extreme right wing group of individuals, united by confused and hate filled ideologies.

“I would ask anyone who is concerned about friends or loved ones to contact police and report what they know. Friends and family are well placed to spot worrying changes in behaviours and attitudes in people they care about; if you suspect someone close to you is at risk of becoming radicalised, the most important call you can make is to police. You won’t harm anyone, but you may well save lives.”

25 members of National Action have faced prison since the banning order took effect in December 2016.

Last month, founding member Alex Davies, 27, was also found guilty of continuing to be a member of the organisation after it was banned and will be sentenced on 7 June at the Old Bailey.

Superintendent Anthony Tagg, head of the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit, said:

“National Action were incredibly dangerous, and the ideology they espoused was an ideology of hatred, which caused division in communities across the country.

“They sought to identify individuals in what they considered to be positions of authority; within the British army, within policing. They sought to utilise those positions to further their ideological cause.”

At its peak National Action is estimated to have had 100 members. It was discovered when security guards at Aston University in Birmingham spotted stickers with hate messages.

Last year, PC Benjamin Hannam, 22, became the first serving British police officer to be convicted of a terror offence after it was found he was a member of National Action. It was discovered that he lied about his past when applying to join the force.