Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell has been sentenced to a community corrections order after a Melbourne magistrate found him guilty of behaving in an offensive manner during a 2024 protest outside the Chinese consulate. Magistrate Patrick Southey compared Sewell's actions to "Nazi thugs of 1930s Berlin" and described his racial slurs as "appalling."
Details of the Offence
On Tuesday, Sewell, 33, was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work as part of an 18-month community corrections order. The court heard that Sewell used a megaphone to direct a group dressed in black with covered faces outside the consulate. The group displayed a large sign containing a racist slur against Asian people.
Representing himself, Sewell claimed the incident was an exercise of free speech and legitimate political commentary. However, Magistrate Southey rejected this defence, stating that the gathering was "unmistakably a neo-Nazi gathering."
Magistrate's Remarks
"The footage was chilling, his utterances repugnant, and this court has no doubt that any reasonable person passing would have been appalled," Southey told Sewell. "They would have been entitled to ask themselves: 'what is this country coming to?'"
The magistrate issued a stern rebuke, noting that Sewell could have made his points without resorting to racial slurs or emulating "Nazi thugs of 1930s Berlin." Southey also highlighted that Sewell's group made threats to hang someone, and the image of them with covered faces "brought to mind the Ku Klux Klan."
Background of the Offender
Sewell, the leader of the now-defunct National Socialist Network, which disbanded earlier this year, has a history of neo-Nazi-related offences. The New Zealand-born Sewell has been before the court for similar behaviour previously.
During sentencing, Southey remarked on Australia's tolerant society, saying, "I know you've lived in this country a long time, but some might say you've yet to learn what it is to be Australian." Sewell responded, "No, I think you find that Australia was founded on the racism that you want to criminalise."
Prosecutor's Request
Prosecutor Alex Turner did not seek a jail sentence but requested a "punitive" community work order. The court imposed the community corrections order, requiring Sewell to perform 200 hours of unpaid community work.
