Right-wing extremist jailed for possession of weapons parts and images of child abuse

A right-wing extremist has been jailed for 10 years after being caught with firearms components, a guide for the 3D printing of weapons and images of child abuse.

UK national Mark Wolf (37) was caught after an extensive investigation by anti-terrorism specialists from the Garda Special Detective Unit. It is believed to be the first conviction relating to far-right terrorism in the Irish courts.

Gardaí believe Wolf, who also used the name Mark Peppard, intended to carry out a terrorist attack but had not formulated a solid plan by the time of his arrest. They believe he was working alone and not affiliated with any group.

Sentencing Wolf, Judge Martin Nolan said analysis of his phones “demonstrated this man had interest in violent means and had hostility towards certain groups”. As well as the weapons and military equipment, Wolf was found with badges depicting the An Garda Síochána logo.

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A Europol report on terrorism released last year referred to Wolf as someone who “sympathised with right-wing extremism and had an interest in previous atrocities committed by right-wing extremists”.

Among the items seized from Wolf was a video of a live stream of the mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019. Texts sent to his phone referenced the killing of children on a regular basis.

Other items seized included a Nazi flag along with military goggles, tactical gloves, flick knifes, an array of military tents and sleeping bags and other items. One of the badges was of a Sonnenrad or Black Sun, a popular neo-Nazi symbol used by the New Zealand mass shooter.

Wolf is wanted in the UK to face trial relating to eight terrorism charges and two counts of making indecent photographs of a child. The terror charges relate to possession of documents “likely to be useful to a person in committing or preparing an act of terrorism”.

Gardaí were able to establish that Wolf had been living in a hostel in Gardiner Street, Dublin, after he sought to import firearm components from the US.

During the raid of his hostel room in 2021, gardaí confiscated four mobile phones which were found to contain images of child abuse including Snapchat conversations between Wolf and two different teenage girls, one of which involved both Wolf and the girl engaging in separate sex acts over Snapchat.

Det Sgt Gareth Kane told Eoin Lawlor, prosecuting, that in addition to the images of child abuse, there were images and videos on Wolf’s phone of human suffering such as a foetus being made into soup, a woman shooting herself and males being decapitated.

They also discovered that Wolf made bids for domain address such as paedo-info and paedo-rights and evidence that he had accessed the dark web and visited a site that contained a list of resources for child abuse material.

During the raid, gardaí found various components that would be used in the assembly or manufacture of semi-automatic weapons, including a buffer spring and buffer tube and documentation with instructions on how to put them together. One of the documents described the process of 3D printing weapons.

Wolf, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four charges of being in possession of the component parts of a firearm, possession of an electronic document in relation to the assembly of a firearm, three charges of importing component parts of a firearm into the State and three charges of knowingly being in possession of child pornography on dates in June 2021.

He had previous convictions from the UK including for assault, causing grievous bodily harm, firearm offences and battery.

Dean Kelly, defending, said his client left school at 12 at the behest of his mother to assist her following her diagnosis of schizophrenia. He said Wolf had been treated in London following a diagnosis of bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorder. He submitted that it would have been a lengthy and complex trial but for Wolf’s guilty pleas.

Judge Nolan imposed concurrent terms of 10 years in prison for the firearm offences and two years for the possession of child abuse material, which were backdated to when Wolf first went into custody in June 2021.