‘Big Hitler fan’ built bomb parts in bedroom, court hears

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Rex Clark was described as a neo-Nazi who ‘glorified’ mass murder

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A teen accused of experimenting with homemade bombs was “a big fan of Hitler”, a jury has heard.

Rex Clark, 19, is on trial at Kingston Crown Court, accused of attempting to buy a handgun and disseminating terrorist materials online.

The material allegedly included videos that glorified right-wing terrorists Anders Breivik, Brenton Tarrant, and Stephan Balliet.

Clark was aged between 17 and 18 at the time of the alleged offences.

He was an “avid internet user” who shared his “extreme right-wing interests” with his girlfriend Sofija Vinogradova, prosecutor Louis Mably KC told jurors on Monday.

“The two of them would discuss their ideology, their ideas, and in this way seemed to spur each other on,” Mr Mably, opening the trial, said.

“He experimented with making parts of explosive devices – in other words, experimented with making parts for homemade bombs, materials found in his bedroom at the time of his arrest.

“He was a big fan of Hitler and in practice this involved a keen interest in, and a habit of glorifying, extreme violence – including mass killing – which he no doubt believed would advance this extreme, anti-democratic view.”

The prosecution alleges that between 1 June 2024 and 10 August 2024, Clark and his girlfriend tried to buy a Glock self-loading pistol – a type of handgun commonly used by police forces and military across the world.

There is no suggestion that Clark intended to use the gun for terrorist purposes, Mr Mably told jurors, and the seller they contacted never actually had a handgun to sell.

But the content Clark allegedly shared online could have encouraged others to commit acts of terrorism, the prosecution added.

“Now, it is not a crime to be a neo-Nazi, or to believe in extreme ideologies – right-wing ideologies or, indeed, any extreme ideology,” Mr Mably told jurors.

“Very often these are people sitting in their bedrooms, behind keyboards, talking rubbish – and certainly the defendant was one of those people.

“But the more immediate concern is that when people believe, and then spread the idea, that violence is justified and necessary, others may be prepared to take up that idea, and actually carry out violence – killing people to advance an ideology.

“He (Clark) promoted and glorified not just extreme right wing politics and ideology, but terrorism – in particular, he promoted and glorified mass killings of innocent people, not just in the abstract, but which had been carried out in Europe and in New Zealand by neo-Nazis.

“And by doing so what he was doing was offering encouragement to others to do similar things.”

Content allegedly shared by Clark included a video named “St Breivik Edit” after Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik, and another featuring terrorist Brenton Tarrant, who stormed two mosques in New Zealand and killed 51 people in 2019.

Clark was arrested on 10 August 2024.

Police searched his home on the same day and uncovered what appeared to be pieces of improvised explosive devices that had been prepared by the defendant in his bedroom, Mr Mably told jurors.

“Now, there was no actual explosive material within these parts – they were not capable of detonation,” Mr Mably said.

“But what appears to have happened is that the defendant was experimenting in with homemade bombs and devices.”

Clark, of Ilford, east London, denies one count of attempting to purchase a firearm, and six counts of dissemination of terrorist publications between October 2023 and the summer of 2024.

The trial continues.

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