Home detention for SA man Anthony Paul Dobson who signed his name with a hate symbol

A former white nationalist who filled notebooks with his racist views and signed his name with a swastika has been sentenced.

A white nationalist who filled notebooks with his racist views and signed his name with a swastika has been spared a jail cell – because he, unlike his peers, has “denounced Nazism”.

On Friday, the District Court said Anthony Paul Dobson could not be punished for his former beliefs, no matter how “disturbing, abhorrent or distasteful they might be”.

Judge Rauf Soulio said he could be sentenced for amassing hateful material, including a guide to assassinating politicians, judges, police and journalists “harmful to our race”.

However, he ruled Dobson could serve the rest of his sentence on home detention after telling a psychologist he now “specifically denounced Nazism”.

The psychologist had, he said, found it “likely” Dobson was autistic and concluded his denunciation “appears to be genuine”.

Anthony Paul Dobson, pictured leaving the District Court last year. Picture: NCA NewsWire

He has been spared a jail cell – because he, unlike his peers, has “denounced Nazism Picture: NCA NewsWire

“You’ve called Nazism a ‘horrible idea’, saying that ‘the idea there’s some sort of hierarchy of races is ridiculous’ and ‘an obfuscation of class relations’,” he said.

Dobson, 26, pleaded guilty to possessing a document or record of information for terrorist acts, and multiple counts of possessing extremist material and breaching his bail.

He was arrested in April 2021 as part of an investigation into the SA Men’s Health Club which, the court heard, is a front for neo-Nazi activity in the state.

Two of the group’s leaders, Jackson Trevor Pay and Duncan Robert Cromb, were jailed while a third member, Patrick Patmore, received a suspended sentence.

Police alleged Dobson was a “core member” of the organisation, caught with guerilla warfare notes, IRA bomb-making instructions and other “recipes for disaster”.

He maintained his innocence for years, claiming in court his parents were “extremists” with “a radical belief system”, and living with them was “worse than prison”.

In sentencing on Friday, Judge Soulio said Dobson’s terrorism material included both downloaded and self-written documents. Dobson had, he said, authored a notebook about “national socialism as it pertains to SA”, signing it with his name and a swastika.

He said Dobson grew up in a religious home with parents who were “preoccupied with conspiracy theories such as the New World Order”.

“When you questioned those teachings, you were informed it was heresy to have a different opinion,” he said.

“You joined (white nationalist groups) in your final year of secondary education (in) what you described as a state of ‘existential crisis’ and ‘psychosocial challenges’.

“You said that, for better or worse, there was ‘community’ that ‘filled the big void’ left by leaving the church... that it was ‘the acceptance I needed’ and provided ‘the alternate world view I wanted’.”

Judge Soulio said the concept of equal justice required “like cases to be treated alike”, but also a consideration of their differences.

He said Pay’s case was most directly comparable to Dobson’s matter.

“I bear in mind that, although you committed a greater number of offences, you’ve already served a significant period in custody,” he said.

“Pay adheres to his extremist views and has not denounced them, as you have.”

He gave Dobson credit for time served on remand and bail, and imposed an 18-month sentence with a six-month non-parole period, to be served on home detention.