A former UK 'Miss Hitler' beauty pageant contestant has been jailed for belonging to a banned, neo-Nazi terrorist group that perpetuated a "vile ideology", according to a judge.
In March, 23-year-old Alice Cutter was convicted for her active involvement in the prohibited, far-right extremist organisation National Action (NA), alongside three fellow members - Garry Jack, Connor Scothern and Cutter's ex-boyfriend Mark Jones.
The four, described as "diehards", were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday (local time).
Despite NA being an outlawed organisation under the UK's Terrorism Act 2000 since December 2016, the members "weren't prepared to dissociate... from the vile ideology of this group", according to Judge Paul Farrer QC.
"[You] therefore defied the ban and continued as members," he said in court.
Although Cutter never held an organisational or leadership position in the group, Farrer noted the 23-year-old was a "trusted confidante" of one of the senior members, as well as maintaining a "committed relationship" with Jones - a man who played a "significant role" in the organisation's rebuild following the ban.
The four denied they were members, however the court heard they had all attended a post-ban meeting in Birmingham in January 2017, which included senior leaders. Cutter, who was sentenced to three years behind bars, admitted she attended rallies but refuted being an official member.
The neo-Nazi organisation, labelled as "racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic" by then home secretary Amber Rudd, was officially outlawed following a series of rallies and incidents, the Irish Times reports.
In 2016, the group praised the brutal murder of Jo Cox, a 41-year-old British MP who was stabbed and shot multiple times by a man believed to have ties to the white supremacist organisation National Alliance.
The Crown prosecutor said it was "no coincidence" that Cutter had participated in the UK's 'Miss Hitler' pageant, entering under the name 'Buchenwald Princess' in reference to a World War II death camp.
Jurors were shown messages in which Cutter joked about using a Jewish person's head as a football, gassing synagogues and writing "rot in hell, bitch" in reference to Cox's murder, according to the Irish Times.
Jones, 25, received a five-and-a-half year sentence for his prominent role in the NA, which included targeting individuals for recruitment with Cutter.
"Dedicated member" Jack, 24, and Scothern, a teenager of "future leadership material", were handed a four-and-a-half year sentence and an 18-month detention term respectively.
In 2019, prosecutor Barnaby Jameson QC described NA's ideology as "warped and twisted" and said the existence of such hate would "shock" people.
"This case is about a fellowship of hate. A hate so fanatical and a fellowship so defiant that the accused would sooner break the law than break their bonds of hate," he said.
