Romanian man jailed for supporting plans for terrorist attack in UK

A Romanian man has been jailed for more than five years after he joined an online chat that supported plans for a terrorist attack in Leeds.

Claudiu Stefan Cristea, 47, was found guilty by a jury of possessing a terrorist document following a week-long trial at Leicester Crown Court. He was arrested in February 2024 as part of an operation by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North East, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Cristea was part of the extreme right wing chat group called Einsatz14, whose name is reminiscent of the Nazi paramilitary death squads Einsatzgruppen. Members of the chat were suspected of planning a terrorist attack against a target in West Yorkshire.

The Romanian reportedly shared racist and antisemitic views on the chat. Three others, including Brogan Stewart of Tingley, who led the group and was calling for attacks on mosques, are to be sentenced next month.

When officers searched Cristea’s home on Queens Road, Leicester, they found a copy of “The Anarchist’s Cookbook” on a bookshelf. The book provides instructions on the manufacture of explosives, weapons, and drugs.

He was later charged with one offence of collecting information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. He was jailed for a total of five-and-a-half years.

“Cristea maintained that his interest in far-right ideology was purely academic, but his involvement with the Einsatz14 chat group showed that was not the case,” said Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East.

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