91Èȱ¬

An anti-vaccination conspiracy theorist who encouraged violence against Prof Sir Chris Whitty on social media has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Patrick Ruane, 55, from Paddington, west London, was convicted of two charges of encouraging terrorism on social media in 2021, following a trial at the Old Bailey.

Ruane believed in conspiracy theories about the government having a "hidden agenda" to the coronavirus epidemic which he shared with thousands of users in Telegram groups, the trial heard.

His posts referred to "serious violence" including the use of explosives such as Semtex as well as criminal damage and the disruption of electronic communication systems, said the prosecution.

Ruane had suggested "whacking" the Chief Medical Officer for England, Prof Sir Chris Whitty, and referred to executing politicians.

Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Richard Marks KC said the "overwhelming view" around the world was that the vaccines were highly effective in saving lives.

"You and others, however, did not share that opinion," he said.

The judge said Ruane was entitled to publicly vent his views, but he had gone "much further" and in so doing had committed these offences.

Judge Marks said Ruane was encouraging the readers of his messages, many of who he believed were anti-vaxxers like himself, to use violence to frustrate the manufacture and use of vaccines.

What Ruane did was "extremely dangerous" as it would have only taken one person to act on what he had advocated - given the "volatile and vulnerable" mood of many people during a time of exceptional difficulty, the court heard.

"You had developed a compulsive and obsessive mindset about the vaccine," said Judge Marks.

In mitigation the court heard Ruane had mental health issues from childhood trauma and had alcohol dependence.

The defendant claimed he had no memory of sending the messages as he was "blind drunk" every day at the time.

But Judge Marks said the defendant had exaggerated the extent of his drinking.

Ruane was also sentenced to a one-year extended licence period.