Adelaide extremist Duncan Robert Cromb ‘needs a girlfriend’ to rehabilitate, court told

An Adelaide extremist caught with terrorist material can change his ways, a court has heard – if shown some “intimacy”.

A homeschooled conservative Christian turned white supremacist, who was caught in possession of terrorist documents, needs a job, real friends and an “intimate relationship” if he is to fully rehabilitate, a court has heard.

On Monday, Duncan Robert Cromb told the District Court he has severed all ties with the SA Men’s Health Club – this state’s chapter of the racist National Socialist Network extremist group.

He said that, having spent 13 months in custody for possessing a “practical guide to revolution”, he should be given a suspended sentence – but Judge Joanne Tracey was not so sure.

“The psychological report says he ‘continues to hold views and values gained, over a long period of time and by research on his own part, consistent with white supremacy views and alignments’,” she said.

“Those views are ongoing.”

Duncan Robert Cromb, pictured unblurred at the 2008 North American-Pacific Capuchin Conference, is a former Franciscan friar charged with being one of the leaders of SA’s neo-nazi group.

But Cromb’s lawyer said that same report also charted a way forward for his client.

“It says ‘should he engage in a meaningful, intimate romantic relationship, pro-social friendships and contact with his family’, that will reduce his risk of reoffending,” he said.

Cromb, 38, faced court alongside his co-offender, Jackson Trevor Pay, 23.

Pay and Cromb each pleaded guilty to possessing a document or record of information for terrorist acts.

The duo were arrested during a series of police raids in April 2021.

Fellow member Patrick Patmore was spared jail for his offending while the group’s alleged leader, Cameron Brodie-Hall, will stand trial in January next year.

Jackson Trevor Pay leaves the Adelaide Magistrates Court at an earlier hearing. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Images from the SA Men's Health Club Inc Facebook page. From left, Jackson Trevor Pay and Cameron Brodie-Hall

On Monday, Cromb’s counsel said his client had no intention of using “A Practical Guide to the Strategies and Tactics of Revolution” to personally commit nor support any act of violence.

He said Cromb’s views, while “abhorrent and distasteful”, should not result in a harsher sentence for “possessing a book”.

Counsel for Pay said her client was “really upset and really concerned about” being called a terrorist when he had not read the book “cover to cover” and did not fully appreciate its contents.

Prosecutors urged the court to jail both men, saying nothing short of immediate imprisonment was an appropriate punishment for radical extremism.

Judge Tracey remanded Cromb in custody, and Pay on continuing bail, for sentencing in June.