Alleged nazi hate gang head for Old Bailey

| Monday, 25 April 2005 Source: Searchlight

A man well known to regular Searchlight readers is awaiting extradition to Britain after being arrested on the Spanish Costa del Sol.

Mark Atkinson, 38, failed to appear at an Old Bailey hearing in February to face accusations of publishing race hate propaganda. Atkinson is one of seven alleged members of the extremist rightwing group, the Racial Volunteer Force, an offshoot of the nazi terror group Combat 18.

He was initially arrested in July 2003 after police from Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, Surrey, London, Merseyside and Manchester combined in a crackdown on the group in an operation codenamed Attend.

Atkinson was later granted bail and fled to Spain where he was arrested on 22 April on an international arrest warrant at the resort of Benalmadena. "It looks like he took advantage of his freedom on bail to travel to the southern Spanish coast," a police spokesman said.

He will be held at a top security prison in Madrid before appearing at Spain's National Criminal Court which handles all extradition requests.

Atkinson is accused of six offences of conspiracy to publish and distribute material intended to stir up racial hatred and two offences of conspiring to carry out threats made in the articles.

If his extradition goes ahead, Atkinson will be charged along with at least six others who are due to stand trial at the Old Bailey for similar offences. The charges relate to articles in a magazine called Stormer, published by the Racial Volunteer Force, and on the internet. Police said the organisation's targets were Jewish, Muslim and black people living in Britain.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1 August2002 and 31 October 2003. They are also alleged to have distributed a music DVD, Skrewdriver – Live in Germany, and a November 9th Society booklet, The Longest Hatred.

The others accused are Atkinson's partner, Elizabeth Hunt, 36, of Dawson Avenue, Southport; Nigel Piggins, 39, of Holtemprice Street, Hull; Jonathan Hill, 33, of South Croft, Oldham; Steven Bostock, 27, of Westmorland Road, Manchester; Michael Denis, 30, of Ashdown Way, Tooting; and Kevin Quinn, 40, of Ouseland Road, Bedford, leader of the November 9th Society, also known as the British Nazi Party.