Ex-HMRC worker jailed two years for inciting racial hatred after BBC probe

September 7, 2026 at 08:16 PM2 min

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Thomas Webster, a former HMRC employee, was sentenced to two years at Warwick Crown Court for inciting racial and religious hatred online. He was dismissed by HMRC in February 2025 after a BBC investigation exposed his extremist posts. Webster pleaded guilty to stirring up hatred on grounds of race, religion, and sexual orientation.

Key Facts

Thomas Webster was sentenced to two years at Warwick Crown Court for inciting racial and religious hatred online.
Webster was dismissed by HMRC in February 2025, one month after the BBC programme 'Unmasked: Extreme Far Right' was broadcast.
He was arrested in September 2025 and pleaded guilty last month to stirring up hatred on grounds of race, religion, and sexual orientation.
Webster described himself as 'the ultimate genocidal racist monster' and said he wanted Jewish and gay people to be tortured and executed.

The BBC Investigation

Webster was exposed by an undercover BBC journalist in the programme 'Unmasked: Extreme Far Right'. He told the reporter he was a 'white totalitarianist' who believed in a world where all other races would be extinct. Webster also said he would have 'crushed [the] skulls' of a group of non-white men if they had walked near him during a hike with Patriotic Alternative members. Following the broadcast, police linked Webster to several social media accounts, mainly on X.

Employment and Dismissal

Webster worked at HMRC and admitted to deliberately giving non-white people 'bad information' to sabotage them. HMRC said it took breaches of its standards 'extremely seriously' and dismissed Webster in February 2025 after an internal disciplinary process. The department stated that 'where standards are not met, we act decisively'.

Legal Proceedings

Webster was arrested for inciting racial hatred in September 2025. Police used details on his phone and computer to confirm the social media accounts were his. He was charged in July and pleaded guilty last month to stirring up hatred on grounds of race, religion, and sexual orientation. Warwick Crown Court sentenced him to two years in prison.