Ex-Brit School actor who turned obsessive about the far-right, sexual violence and mass killings jailed for terror after ‘making pact with satan’
A former Brit School actor who became obsessed with the far-right, sexual violence and mass killings has been jailed for terrorism offences after claiming that he made a ‘pact with the devil.’
Declan Candiani, 26, a former theatre student at the Brit School in Croydon, became involved in the world of far-right rock music and white supremacist fitness clubs.
He was found with a number of documents on his iPad advocating the violent pursuit of white supremacy, sexual violence, and the manifestos of far-right mass murderers.
Sentencing him to 23 months in jail, Judge Nigel Lickley KC said Candiani was ‘deeply immersed in truly horrifying belief systems’.
His access to the material was ‘deliberate and part of an interest in mass killing, death and the extreme right-wing,’ he said.
Candiani was living at home with his mother in Streatham, South London and working in at the Clapham Omnibus Theatre, serving coffee and providing night-time security, while also working part-time as a dog walker.
He was stopped at Standsted airport on his way to Finland for a holiday with his girlfriend on August 13 last year.
His mobile phone was examined by the Counter-Terrorism Border Policing Unit and a number of documents found, leading to a search of his home.
Former Brit School student and wannabe actor Declan Candiana
He had a German Imperial flag in his room
He was interviewed by police wearing a t-shirt with the logo Combat 84, a 1980s far-right punk band, and had a tattoo of pool balls with the number 88, a coded reference to the words Heil Hitler.
His username on the Telegram app was Ian Stuart 88, a reference to the lead singer of the neo-Nazi band Skrewdriver and founder of the Blood and Honour network of far-right musicians.
Candiani told police that three years earlier, he had discovered a group called The Order of the Nine Angles (ONA) a far-right group that follows what it calls ‘traditional satanism.’
Their texts advocate ritual killing, mass murder and paedophilia to bring about the collapse of western civilisation, the Old Bailey was told
Candiani told the officers he developed an ‘unhealthy obsession’ with ‘their satanic aspect, communicating with demons and this kind of occult belief.’
He knew that the content was ‘wrong’ and took steps to delete the material but could not find the self-control to stop himself from downloading more.
‘What started as a kind of innocent interest has developed into something that’s like going down a rabbit hole into something that’s not good,’ he said.
Candiani claimed he ‘started hearing the voice of the devil or some kind of demon inside me.’
A selfie of Candiani, which showed a tattoo referencing Hitler on his shoulder
Some of the items found in his bedroom
‘During that time I made a pact with the devil and I signed it and I told him that I’d be like a minion, a soldier,’ Candiani told police.
He read more about the ONA on the internet, and their rituals and beliefs, including one called ‘The Rape Anthology, Chronicles of Sodomy, Augur of the Apocalypse.’
The jury was told that the document did not constitute a terrorist document and was not among those illegal to possess.
However, other documents found on his devices included the ‘Hater’s Handbook’ was written by Michail Chkhikvishvili, who uses the alias ‘Commander Butcher’ and leads the Maniac Murder Cult, a Satanic neo-Nazi organisation.
Chkhikvishvili argued for the merging of National Socialism – the ideology of the Nazis – with satanism.
The book included sections on school shootings, ‘faces of pure devil’, rape, murder, truck attacks and ‘weapons of accelerationism.’
Candiani also had a document called Combat 18’s ‘Guide to ZOG Oppression’ was a reference to the so-called ‘Zionist Occupied Government’, a conspiracy theory that Jews secretly control governments across the world, produced by a banned neo-Nazi organisation.
He also had a copy of a book called the DIY Sheet Metal Self-loading Pistol, a manual showing how to build a self-loading pistol.
Candiani denied that he had any far-right sympathies but police discovered he had applied to join a far-right fitness group called Active Club, on August 7 last year, telling them: ‘I want to join because I’m fed up with being inactive and want to do something to help my race and nation.’
He said he had experience of weightlifting, combat sports and nutrition.
Active Clubs are right-wing extremist groups who focus on fitness, combat sports and survivalist training, ‘to defend their country against perceived enemies,’ Emily Dummett, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey.
Candiani was told that the next step would be a voice call and Active Club would be in touch soon to organise it but he was arrested less than a week later.
On his bedroom wall he had the flag of the Dirlewanger Brigade, a group of SS stormtroopers recruited from prisons who were notorious for their brutality. On a box in his bedroom he had written ‘kill, kill, kill.’
He also had copies of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and the Great Replacement, the manifesto of Brenton Tarrant, who carried out the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand killing 51 people.
There was also had a copy of ‘A European Declaration of Independence’ the manifesto of far-right killer Anders Brevik who killed 77 people in Norway.
Candiani also had the manifesto of Payton Gendron, who livestreamed his mass shooting of black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
Other documents included a copy of the AWD Programme which was produced by a notorious neo-Nazi terrorist group called the Atomwaffen Division, advocating the use of violence to bring about a white ‘ethno-state’ through ‘accelerationism.’
Candiani also had a copy of the White Man’s Bible by Ben Klassen, an American white supremacist who founded the Church of the Creator, a religious movement which taught that non-whites were subhuman.
Detectives discovered Candiani had posted an image into a Telegram group called ONA Middle School which showed a cartoon a black woman having her hair pulled by a white hand and another titled ‘rape.’
In messages with his girlfriend he had joked about the 9/11 terrorist attacks and admitted that he had a ‘certain obsession’ with the Nazis, describing himself as ‘misanthropic.’
Candiani told the jury he was interested in true crime and serial killers but denied having an ‘obsession’ with extreme violence.
He developed an interest in satanism at the age of 16 after he began a theatre studies course at the Brit School of Performing Arts. At the time he was taking drugs, including cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, and LSD, he said.
He described an occasion around 2019 when he was at home in bed and saw a ‘red-horned devil’ who told him: ‘You see me now Declan, you worship me.’
‘I agreed to be his minion, servant or slave by following his orders. I did literally make a pact with the devil.’
He said it was a ‘general’ pact, ‘quite vague’ and he had not pledged to do anything in particular.
He had been self-harming and suffering from depression and went down a ‘rabbit hole’ after his mother was diagnosed with cancer, he said.
‘At that time I was dealing a lot with my mum and just hated the world and I was very angry and upset and hated everything and everyone.’
He admitted applying to join a right-wing extremist group, Active Club but told the court: ‘I saw a lot of videos and pictures of guys lifting weights, boxing, camping and I saw they were taking steps to improve their bodies. Self-improvement.
In a letter to the judge, Candiani said he undergone counselling, rejected satanism and was now a pagan who believed in Norse gods.
Alex Jamieson, defending, told the sentencing hearing that Candiani ‘wants to repay the support his mother has given him over the years. He has gained a level of reflection with appropriate circumspection. He has taken steps in the right direction.’
Candiani was convicted of possessing two documents useful for terrorism and acquitted of two further counts.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Scotland Yard’s Counter-Terrorism Command, said analysis of his digital devices revealed ‘some of the most horrific material promoted by extreme right-wing terrorist groups, as well as extremely dangerous material about carrying out attacks and other acts of extreme violence.’
