The son of a House of Lords clerk has been jailed for making an indecent image of a child – months after he was spared prison for terror offences and possessing child abuse images.
Harry Vaughan, 21, was 18 when he admitted 14 terror offences and two further counts of possessing indecent images of a child.
He was handed a two-year suspended sentence together with a 60-day rehabilitation order and a 10-year terrorist notification order in November 2020.
Vaughan developed an interest in right-wing extremism, Satanism, the occult and violence after falling “down a rabbit hole of the internet” at the age of 14, the Old Bailey heard.
Police found 4,200 images and 302 files, including an extreme right-wing terrorist book and documents relating to Satanism, neo-Nazism and antisemitism, on his computer and other devices during a search of his family home in Twickenham, south-west London.
He was arrested as part of an investigation into an online forum used by extremists.
After walking free from court, Vaughan – now known as Harry Blake – returned to the Old Bailey in June this year when he admitted making an indecent image of a child in September 2022.
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He also admitted three counts of possessing extreme pornography videos, together with a further three counts of failing to comply with a Serious Crime Prevention Order and three breaches of his terror notification order.
The breaches – including failing to disclose a secret email address and cryptocurrency accounts – took place just one month after he was originally sentenced in 2020.
On Thursday, he was sentenced to a total of three years and two months behind bars.
An ‘articulate and intelligent’ student
Vaughan – whose father, Jake, is reading clerk and director of corporate services at the House of Lords – had been a straight-A schoolboy at the exclusive Tiffin Grammar School in Kingston, southwest London.
He was an “articulate and intelligent” student who had become involved in Satanism and right-wing extremism from the age of 14, despite enjoying “every advantage” that life has to offer, the Old Bailey heard.
He was arrested after boasting about school shootings and sharing explosives manuals and neo-Nazi propaganda online.
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An expert said the material he was viewing was “at most extreme fringe of Satanism and neo-Nazism” with “clear indications of racism.”
His mother was at work and his father was running in Richmond Park when police arrived at the family home at 6.58am on 19 June 2019 – with his two younger sisters aged 10 and 14 answering the door.
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Naeem Mian KC, defending, said Vaughan had “loving, committed parents” who questioned whether they were responsible for their son’s behaviour.
“The internet has opened up a very dark world. We cannot be sure what children are doing in their bedrooms,” Mr Mian said.
Police unearthed a string of posters made by Vaughan including one of mass murderer, Anders Breivik, along with the words “Every girl loves a mass murderer”.
Other posters were emblazoned with slogans saying “It’s OK to be a school shooter” and “It’s OK to be a Nazi”.
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Vaughan had earlier searched for a number of schools close to his home using Google Maps, the court heard.
Speaking after the sentence was passed, detective chief superintendent Gareth Rees, of the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Blake had been convicted of offences relating to sharing extremist content online, so restrictions were imposed to curb his access to computer systems.
“His breach of these conditions was extremely serious.
“Not only had he breached the conditions, but we uncovered that he had also been storing child abuse images.
“I hope this case sends the message that we closely monitor people who are under terrorism notification and crime prevention orders, and that we will bring them back to court where we’ve found they’ve broken those conditions.”
