‘Racist, homophobic’ teen who defaced Windrush mural named

The teen who defaced a Windrush mural in Port Talbot, and displayed other “racist, antisemitic, and homophobic” views has been publicly named.

Aristedes Haynes, a 17-year-old boy from South Wales, has been sentenced to one year and seven months of detention for several terror offences and criminal damage.

Once sentenced at the Old Bailey on Thursday (21 September), the teenager’s anonymity was lifted.

Haynes and a second 15-year-old boy carried out several racially and homophobically charged counts of criminal damage across South Wales, including extremist Nazi graffiti on a Windrush mural.

Just hours after the mural, depicting local beloved nurse Donna Campbell and her mother Lydie, was complete, it was daubed with swastikas, the words “Nazi zone”, and a racial slur.

In a separate incident, Haynes was involved in setting off a smoke bomb at Cardiff’s Queer Emporium – a centre of the local LGBTQ+ community.

At an earlier court hearing, it was revealed that Haynes was banned from Instagram for posting racist and Nazi images, and that his internet search history revealed a deep interest in extremist groups and far-right mass murderers.

The court also heard that, when Haynes’ room was searched, police uncovered a stash of knives, antisemitic literature including a copy of Mein Kampf with Haynes’ handwritten notes, Ku Klux Klan flags, and a diary that outlined a desire for a “race war” and a concerning list of life goals.

Items on the list included “kill someone”, “get a gun or make on”, and “burn down a building, maybe bomb it.”

In total, Haynes faced eight charges: two for possession of a terrorist document, three for distribution of a terrorist document, and three for criminal damage.

Speaking at the sentencing on Thursday, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said: “I am satisfied that not only did you hold entrenched racist, antisemitic, and homophobic views at the time of the commission of these offences, but that these are views which you have not genuinely disavowed,” per The Independent.

He continued: “It is apparent that you were not someone who limited your behaviour to the expression of your views online, but were prepared to put some of those views into action.

“It is of particular concern that not only had you asserted that one of your goals in life was to kill someone….but you had already carried out research as to the availability of one of the components for constructing a gun.”

The terrorist documents found in Haynes’ possession included details on how to make bombs, attack power lines, derail trains, and kidnap police officers, as well as a “step-by-step” manual on how to make a gun.

Haynes had been referred to the Prevent de-radicalisation programme by the air cadets last spring. However, he was expelled from the group last September after sending other cadets a photo of himself with a swastika painted on his chest.

The 15-year-old boy, who helped Haynes carry out a series of offences, has not been publicly named.

After appearing in Cardiff Youth Court in August, he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage and dour counts of racially aggravated criminal damage.