Man with history of browsing antisemitic websites and convicted of downloading terrorist material has his appeal against sentence dismissed in Edinburgh

A man with a history of browsing antisemitic websites who pleaded guilty in 2019 of possessing materials “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism” has had his appeal against his sentence dismissed.

David Dudgeon was sentenced to two years in prison by the Edinburgh Sheriff Court, which reduced the sentence by a year from a three-year starting point, due to his guilty plea.

Mr Dudgeon then appealed to the High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court for the sentence to be reduced on the basis that the three-year starting point was “excessive”. That appeal has now failed.

Mr Dudgeon, who reportedly has a history of mental health issues, was referred to police in March 2019, following which his home was raided. Over the course of the investigation, it was discovered that Mr Dudgeon had an extensive browsing history of extreme far-right websites on topics such as antisemitism, Holocaust denial, racism, conspiracy theores and serial killers, desribed by the court as “violent, sinister and disturbing”.

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.