Colette HumeBBC Wales, Cardiff Magistrates Court
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Warning: Readers may find some details distressing
A Catholic priest who admitted discussing bombing mosques and shooting black people in the head in neo-Nazi online chatrooms has been sentenced to a 12-month community order.
Father Mark Rowles, 57, went by the name “skinheadlad1488” in a chatroom called Aryan Reich Killers to write offensive messages about Muslims.
On Thursday, Rowles, of St John Lloyd Catholic church in Cardiff, admitted three counts of sending menacing or offensive messages using the Telegram app in May and June 2024.
He will serve 150 hours community service, pay £199 in costs, and be bound by a Criminal Behaviour Order for three years. The Catholic Church in Wales will be carrying out its own review.
Rowles was arrested during an investigation by counter-terror police into extreme right wing activity using social media apps.
Rowles wrote offensive messages about Muslims, including a message where he said “bomb mosques”.
In one expletive-filled message which included an extreme racial slur, he wrote, “they should all be strung up or shot”.
The court was told he described himself in an online profile as a 16-year-old skinhead neo-Nazi and a loner.
His profile photo was of a young white man wearing a face covering, there was a German flag and the words “right hand path always”.
Rob Simkins, prosecuting, said the messages were “hostility based on religion and race”.
Anti-terror detectives traced Rowles through the Telegram app and his mobile phone.
In another discussion, in a neo-Nazi chatroom, he and another user discussed the ethnicity of Londoners.
Rowles wrote “a few bullets to their brains would help”.
During police interviews, Rowles told officers he was not racist and that he joined the online groups because he was lonely and had a sexual fetish for role play.
Jacqui Seal, defending, said: “Clearly this is a disturbing case. Throughout his life in the Catholic Church he has never been the subject of a complaint or disciplinary action.
“He has no previous convictions.”
A spokesperson for the Catholic Church in Wales said Rowles had not been in active ministry since the allegations were revealed.
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