Declan George Candiani was stopped by counter-terrorism police at Stansted Airport as he attempted to go on holiday in August 2024.
A self-proclaimed satanist actor who claimed he made a pact with a “red-horned devil” has been sentenced to nearly two years’ imprisonment for having extreme right-wing material.
Former Brit School of Performing Arts student Declan George Candiani, 26, was stopped by counter-terrorism police at Stansted Airport as he attempted to go on holiday to Finland with his girlfriend on August 13 2024.
On seeing the contents of his phone, officers arrested him and searched the home he shared with his mother in Streatham, south-west London.
An examination of Candiani’s iPhone and iPad revealed a cache of extreme right-wing material which included “manifestos” of mass killers and documents advocating the use of serious violence to achieve white supremacy.
Jailing him for 23 months on Friday, Nigel Lickley KC said: “Examination of your devices revealed that from at least February 2024 you had accessed material because you adopted an extreme far-right mindset.
“You tattooed your body with Adolf Hitler symbols and began watching programmes about massacres and mass shootings.
“You downloaded a DIY instruction guide for making a sheet metal firearm on 14 April 2024.”
Candiani also started using encrypted messaging platform Telegram under the username Ian Stuart 88, referencing the founder of a neo-Nazi group financially sanctioned by the British government for suspected involvement in terrorist activities.
Candiani denied wrongdoing, claiming he was mainly interested in satanism and the occult.
Judge Lickley said Candiani wrote him a letter explaining he has “rejected satanism and far-right ideologies” and is now a pagan who believes in Norse gods.
“I have read your letter to me, I note you want to take more steps to make sure you do not go down the path you did in 2024 again – you have said you have benefitted from counselling”, the judge said.
He was found guilty in October of two charges of collection of information likely to be useful for terrorism and acquitted of two similar offences.
Candiani was sentenced to 23 months’ imprisonment plus a year on licence for one charge, and to 10 months’ imprisonment with a year on licence for the second. They are to be served concurrently.
There is no suggestion Candiani distributed the material, discussed it with others, or revisited either documents once downloaded, the judge said.
During the trial, jurors had heard details of the “horrific” material Candiani had on his devices.
In Hater’s Handbook, the leader of the satanic neo-Nazi group Maniac Murder Cult claimed to have “murdered for the white race” and promoted the likes of mass killer Anders Breivik.
A document entitled 21 Silent Techniques of Killing outlined close contact “assassination” with a spike, knife and nunchucks.
In police interview, Candiani claimed he had downloaded material after becoming interested in satanic group Order of Nine Angles (O9A), which has been linked with right-wing extremism.
Giving evidence in court, Candiani described being visited by a “red-horned devil” in his bedroom who told him: “You see me now Declan, you worship me.”
He told jurors he agreed to be his “minion”, saying: “I did literally make a pact with the devil.”
His mental health suffered and he went down a “rabbit hole” after his mother was diagnosed with cancer, the court was told.
The defendant said: “At that time I was dealing a lot with my mum and just hated the world and I was very angry and upset and hated everything and everyone.”
Candiani accepted that he had a tattoo on his chest bearing a neo-Nazi symbol 88 – meaning Heil Hitler.
He also admitted applying to join a right-wing extremist group, Active Club England, but said he later got “cold feet”.
When members asked why he wanted to apply and what skills he had to offer, he replied: “Because I’m fed up with being inactive and want to do something to help my race and nation. I have experience with weight lifting, combat and nutrition.”
However, Candiani told jurors he was not interested in terror attacks or hurting anyone.
He did not respond to the group’s request for a phone call, the judge said on Friday.
Candiani said he did not remember looking at a lot of the terrorist material, saying it must have been downloaded “inadvertently”.
The judge told him: “In my judgment the offending in this case is so serious that immediate imprisonment is required.
“I come to that decision because of the offending itself and because there is much about you that remains unknown, as the pre-sentence report identifies.”
Candiani has described himself as having no friends, being introverted and struggling with communication.
However, he went to Brit school, had intimate relationships and held customer facing roles, including a duty manager at a theatre in Clapham, south-west London.
The pre-sentence report found “it therefore seems he is either good at masking his difficulties or there are two sides to him”, and “it is difficult to get a sense of his underlying attitudes”.
It added: “He carefully presented himself as having no racist, Islamophobic, antisemitic or transphobic attitudes, however his offending and the contents of his bedroom would suggest otherwise – (it) is therefore difficult to get a sense of what he really thinks and this would perhaps take time”.
The judge told Candiani: “Your offending in 2024 is of a type where it is right to be concerned about you and the future.
“You were deeply immersed in truly horrifying belief systems and associated material.”
He added: “I note that at a time of significant events in the UK in 2024 you did not engage in commentary with others.”
Candiani was assessed by psychiatrists who found he had a “mild personality disorder” and was fit to stand trial, despite his claim to hear voices and see the devil.
Experts agreed the symptoms he described were not psychosis but a manifestation of his own personality.
