A Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with being a member of banned neo-Nazi group National Action.
Benjamin Hannam, 21, of north London, has been charged with five offences following an investigation by the Met’s counter-terrorism command and has been suspended from duty.
It is alleged he belonged or professed to belong to a proscribed organisation, namely National Action, contrary to section 11 of the Terrorism Act 2000, between December 2016 and January 2018.
It is also alleged that he falsely represented in his application to join the Met that he had not been a member of an organisation similar to the BNP, namely National Action, intending to make gain for himself.
The probationary officer is also charged with falsely representing in his vetting form to join the Met that he had not been a member of National Action.
And charges include possession of an indecent photograph of a child in 2018 and possession of a prohibited image of a child in 2016.
Detective Superintendent Ella Marriott said: “These are extremely serious charges for anyone to face, and I fully understand and appreciate how deeply concerning it might be for the public, and particularly local communities here in north London, that the charges are against a serving police officer.”
She said integrity is “fundamental” to policing and said any officer suspected of displaying extremist behaviours or associations should rightly expect to be investigated.
Hannam has been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 6 August.
