Former prison officer who shared neo-Nazi rap songs sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment 

A former prison officer who shared neo-Nazi rap songs was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment on Thursday. 

Ashley Podsiad-Sharp, 42, from Barnsley, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on the charge of being in possession of material likely to be of use to a terrorist contrary to section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000. 

Mr Podsiad-Sharp formerly worked as a prison officer at a men’s prison in Armley, Leeds. 

The material in question was the White Resistance Manual. According to law enforcement authorities in California, the White Resistance Manual is “basically a guerrilla warfare manual instructing people on different types of weapons, on creating weapons, on police investigations, basically how to conduct covert urban operations.”

The manual states: “No longer will we allow the Jews to live like parasites upon the body of our race. No longer will we tolerate any Jewish influence in our political system, our legal system or our mass-media.” 

Following an investigation into Mr Podsiad-Sharp’s online activity, he was arrested by Counter Terrorism Policing North East with the assistance of South Yorkshire Police, in May 2022.

In May, he appeared at Sheffield Crown Court where he faced accusations of running an online fitness club in which he promoted terrorism through the use of neo-Nazi rap music.

Said to be the founder of the White Stag Athletic Club, Mr Podsiad-Sharp described the club as “nationalist boy scouts for grown-ups”, which he said was “something beautiful, a brotherhood among a lot of men who have none — white working-class men”. As part of the process for new recruits for the club, members were asked if they were of Jewish or Muslim heritage, mixed race or LGBTQ+. 

Judge Richardson said during Mr Podsiad-Sharp’s sentencing: “The simple fact of the matter is you created a cauldron of self-absorbed neo-Nazism masquerading as a low grade all-male sports club. This sought to camouflage your real purpose to incite violence against those you hated with a vengeance. Those individuals were inadequate, ill-educated, unsuccessful, and dangerous. The terrorist manual was an integral part of this scheme. Sooner or later that violence would have eventuated.”

“You place Hitler and his henchmen as idols in your life,” Judge Richardson later added.

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Counter Terrorism Policing North East