Veteran suffering from Parkinson's found with Nazi paraphernalia after making bomb threat to job centre staff

A veteran with Parkinson’s was found with a collection of Nazi and white supremacist paraphernalia at his home after making a bomb threat to staff at a Rotherham job centre. 

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told 66-year-old defendant William Dennis that he ‘deserves to go to prison’ after telling shocked staff at Maltby Jobcentre that he had a ‘bomb,’ which would help him to ‘sort’ a dispute with a neighbour. 

Judge Richarson added, however, that given Dennis ‘is not a well man,’ he may be able to step back from an immediate sentence of imprisonment if the Probation Service can put together a ‘protective package’ to ‘expunge’ Dennis of the ‘perverted thoughts of white supremacy’. 

He also reminded Dennis that his colleagues of a different era ‘gave their lives to fight Nazism’. 

Judge Richardson told Dennis: “You served your country for 18 years in the Royal Engineers. That regiment has a distinguished history - you know that as well as I do. In the Second World War, and all that followed from it and during, it was as a result of Nazism. It’s a troubling thing, and this country - along with its allies - fought Nazism. Countless colleagues of yours, from another era, gave their lives and fought against Nazism.” 

Prosecutor Michael Greenhalgh told Sheffield Crown Court that Dennis gave a staff member at the Maltby Jobcentre cause for concern when he repeatedly told her he ‘had a bomb’ and claimed to have ‘made an IED’ (improvised explosive device). 

The court heard that Dennis, who is awaiting a formal Parkinson’s diagnosis, first intimated he had a bomb during a discussion with the staff member, in which she suggested that he should ‘report’ a neighbour he had branded a ‘smackrat’ if he was concerned they were becoming a ‘nuisance’. 

“He said he ‘had it sorted’. ‘I’ve got a bomb,’ he said. She asked if he was joking, and he said: ‘No, I’m not, I’m serious’,” Mr Greenhalgh told the court.  

When the staff member continued to ask Dennis whether he was being serious, he said: ‘Yes, I’ve made an IED,’ before responding to her assertion that he ‘shouldn’t say things like that’ by saying his neighbour ‘shouldn’t be a smackrat’. Dennis then made the racist claim: ‘No-one says anything when Muslims make bombs,’ the court heard during a hearing held on April 26, 2024. 

Mr Greenhalgh said it was at this point that the staff-member brought their manager over to speak with Dennis, to whom he once again reiterated that he was serious about having a bomb. 

Police were called and subsequently attended at, and searched, his home on the same day in March 2023.  

During the course of the search, officers did not locate a bomb but instead found Nazi memorabilia from World War Two, including a helmet and items emblazoned with ‘SS’ and swastikas, as well as white supremacy paraphernalia. 

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When asked about a hooded ‘SS’ item found at the property, Dennis, of Churchill Avenue, Maltby, Rotherham, claimed it stood for ‘Satan’s Slaves,’ and related to him being a Hells Angel, seemingly referring to the international outlaw motorcycle club. 

Weapons including samurai swords and a zombie knife were also recovered from Dennis’ property. 

Dennis was arrested and subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, an offence of bomb hoax - communicating false information, at an earlier hearing. 

Defending, Ian West said Dennis is believed to have ‘onset Parkinson’s’ but had not yet received a formal diagnosis because he had been assessed by a consultant psychiatrist, as opposed to a neurologist, which is needed for a formal diagnosis. 

In his report to the court, the consultant psychiatrist noted, however, that he had spent enough time with Parkinson’s patients to be able to identify the hallmarks of the condition. 

The court was told that the way in which the condition has begun to manifest itself in Dennis is through ‘emotional dysregulation’ and ‘impulsivity’. 

Mr West said Dennis’ claims to the Jobcentre workers followed a ‘falling out’ with one of his neighbours, but added that the neighbour in question was ‘never contacted’. 

The court also heard how during Dennis’ 18 years in the Royal Engineers - the engineering arm of the British Army - he reached the rank of corporal, before his departure in 1994. 

After reading reports prepared on Dennis’ behalf, Judge Richardson said he believed he had ‘never really settled into civilian life’ after leaving the army. 

Mr West and Judge Richardson both noted that no disruption was caused to the public, at the Jobcentre or for residents living in the immediate vicinity of his home, with the amount of ‘chaos’ being limited to the police search of his home. 

Judge Richarson said: “You deserve to go to prison, but you’re not a well man - it’s self-evident…[Parkinson’s] is a serious disease.”

After speaking with a member of the Probation Service, Judge Richardson adjourned the sentencing hearing until May 24, 2024, to allow them time to see whether it would be possible for them to put together a ‘protective package’ which would pull Dennis away from what are ‘very perverted thoughts of white supremacy’.

He said the package would be for Dennis’ benefit, but ‘more importantly for that of the public’.

As he released Dennis on bail until next month’s hearing, Judge Richardson urged him to visit his GP for treatment, adding: “Let’s hope that some cooperation from you and help from the Probation Service can reform you and help pull you away from this.”