A builder caught with Nazi memorabilia who claimed to have fought with the Wagner mercenary group against Ukraine has been jailed.
Piotr Kucharski, 49, brandished a dagger at a Viking re-enactment while wearing combat clothing and badges with the private military group’s insignia in Stonham Aspal, Suffolk.
He told those joining in the historical event last October in Stonham Aspal, Suffolk, that he had joined the terror group, and also repeated the claim on Facebook.
The Wagner Group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK on September 15, 2023, over a month earlier.
Kucharski, from Watford, was arrested after becoming aggressive, brandishing the dagger at attendees and making a throat slitting gesture.
Officers found a picture of Adolf Hitler, a copy of Mein Kampf and other fascist memorabilia during a search of his home.
Kucharski had shared images of men in combat outfits holding weapons on Facebook, implying that he was one of the men photographed.
In police interview he claimed that only done it to ‘provoke a reaction’ from the combat re-enactment group.
After initially claimed he was only pretending to be a member of the Wagner Group, he pleaded guilty to professing to being a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation in August.
He was jailed for two-and-a-half years with a further year on extended licence for professing to be a member of a proscribed terrorist organisation on November 1.
Kucharski also served 15 years in prison in Poland and had been arrested for armed robbery in 2001 and 2008.
At the sentencing Judge Mark Lucraft KC said: ‘You said that you were interested in Second World War memorabilia, that you had purchased Mein Kampf because you thought it to be a sound financial investment, and the painting of Hitler was on display to prevent it from becoming damaged by mould in storage.
‘Whilst I accept the freedom of expression and of speech that is a benefit of living in the UK, what concerns me here is the lack of understanding on your part of the impact of some of what you were saying and doing.’
Counter Terrorism Policing have said there is no evidence to suggest Kucharski’s claims were true but professing to be a member of a proscribed organisation is a serious offence under terror laws.
Frank Ferguson, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘The CPS will always seek to prosecute those who support terrorism in any way.’
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