Wade John Homewood faces sentencing for advocating terrorism

Unemployed and trapped at home during Covid, a right-wing extremist got ‘swept up’ posting thousands of messages supporting terrorism online. Now, his legal team has asked for him to be released.

A right-wing extremist who promoted terrorism should serve his sentence outside of jail, not with “actual terrorists” who are behind bars, his barrister has told a court.

Wade John Homewood, 38, has been in custody for a year after being arrested following an investigation into online posts with racist, violent and extremist messaging.

In November 2021, NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team investigators seized electronic devices along with handwritten and printed material before arresting Homewood at his East Tamworth house.

In July, Homewood pleaded guilty to advocating terrorist act or commission of terrorism offence, which carries a maximum of five years in jail.

A charge of urges violence against groups threatens order/good government was withdrawn.

A back-up charge of not having approved storage for his firearms that were in his bedroom was also laid.

Wade John Homewood is taken to the police station.

Court documents showed Homewood used Disqus profiles and BitChute, a video-hosting service for far-right users that encourages hate speech, under his display name of New World Ebola.

He was due to be sentenced at Parramatta District Court on Thursday when his barrister Stephen Odgers SC pushed for an intensive correction order, which would allow Homewood to serve his sentence in the community.

The court heard how he had been in custody for 12 months but was now a low-risk to the community and the ICO would allow him to rehabilitate.

“The community would be better off if you made an ICO in this case,’’ Mr Odgers said.

“Does one simply lock him up for another year or two … in Goulburn where he is surrounded by actual terrorists?’’

He said his client was not abandoning his right-wing political views but regretted advocating violence and terrorism.

The extremist could be released from custody if his legal team is successful in requesting an intensive correction order.

“He is truly remorseful for those views, and he no longer adheres to those extreme statements,” he said.

“He was isolated, unemployed, living at home, going on to the internet during the Covid pandemic, being swept up in an extremists’ world where he was suffering from depression and at times … where he was abusing alcohol.”

He conceded to Australian Federal Police during an interview that he should have shown more restraint.

“I’m a bit shocked to have it read out to me,” he said.

“I’m very regretful for the comments I made. Some of them went too far.”

Crown prosecutor Sean Flood told the court Homewood’s failure to give evidence made it difficult to assess his remorse and said he offended between March 2019 and November 2021 with “thousands of posts” expressing his ideologies.

He called for a jail sentence.

Dressed in his prison greens, Homewood bowed his head and closed his eyes through much of the court procedures.

At the beginning of the court proceedings, Judge Andrew Colefax said he was “not attracted to the ICO” but reserved his decision.

The matter will return to court on February 3.