A neo-Nazi leader has been sentenced to two years in prison for intimidating a police officer and his wife. Thomas Sewell, 32, was found guilty on Friday of three charges of intimidation of a law enforcement officer and his wife over targeted threats to expose personal information.
The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard that Sewell threatened to 'dox' the officer and his wife on podcasts in October and November last year, including threats to release personal information and wedding photos. 'I'm working out how to dox him because those doxing laws haven't come into effect yet,' he said on one podcast. 'Like his wedding photos, we've got it all downloaded, he's a fucking idiot.'
The police officer gave evidence about feeling 'highly anxious' over his and his family's safety. 'I didn't know what he was going to do with that information,' he told the court. The officer's wife, who did not give evidence in person, said in a statement: 'I felt really intimidated and threatened, I felt like we were in danger.'
Magistrate Michelle Hodgson rejected Sewell's claims that he was holding police to account and using his 'freedom of communication', finding he had targeted the officer's private life. She said his offending was 'objectively very serious' and that 'a threat to dox can expose family, friends and home life, it uses technology to make private information available to a potentially hostile audience.'
Hodgson sentenced Sewell to two years in prison, with a non-parole period of 12 months. The sentence will commence once he is released from custody for separate offending. Sewell had been on remand for other matters and was arrested outside the court during the hearing over an alleged attack on an Indigenous protest site.
