An "obsessive" Covid denier in the UK who suggested using a bat to “whack” Professor Sir Chris Whitty – Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, the UK Government’s Chief Medical Adviser and head of the public health profession – has been imprisoned for five years after being convicted of encouraging terrorism.
Messages posted by Patrick Ruane on social media were described by a judge who sentenced him as “extremely dangerous” during a volatile time, reports The Guardian.
The trial previously heard that the 55-year-old had targeted not just Whitty but various individuals, as well as the CEO of Covid vaccine developer Pfizer, in a series of posts during 2021.
In a post aimed at Whitty, Ruane had said: “The weakest point of the scull (sic) is the back of the scull and all it would take is riding a bike very fast and whacking target over the back of head with a rounders bat but a mace (a piece of metal ball and chain) would be way better.”
An audio producer who worked in films, Ruane also posted images of semtex explosive and called for an “IRA playbook” to be implemented after the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson extended lockdown powers for a further period.
Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker said that posts by Ruane spanned months and encouraged serious violence and disruption designed to influence the government or intimidate the public.
They reached a “very large audience” through two Telegram chat groups, one of which had 18 000 users.
Judge Richard Marks KC said Ruane had a “compulsive and obsessive” mindset about the vaccines and that he often posted the messages while “blind drunk”.
The “overwhelming view around the world” was that vaccines were hugely effectively in saving lives, said the judge.
Bethan David, head of the counter-terrorism division at the Crown Prosecution Service, said at the time of Ruane’s conviction last month: “This is a dangerous man who was prolific in encouraging violence because of his firmly held beliefs in a conspiracy theory.”
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