A neo-Nazi "Reverend" boasted links to notorious far-right criminals, including an American white supremacist who serving decades behind bars over a plot to murder a judge.

James Costello was identified as the self-styled "high priest" of the Creativity Movement, which "unashamedly promoted white supremacy and neo-Nazi ideology" and boasted an army of "fanatics capable of very serious and deadly violence". The city's top judge today described him as an "enthusiastic evangelist" for the group's propaganda, which he distributed online and was "dripping with hate".

Liverpool Crown Court heard during his sentencing yesterday afternoon, Thursday, that the 38-year-old, of Old Rough Lane in Kirkby, had been "in correspondence" with several high-profile offenders currently locked up in the USA. These included Matthew Hale, who is serving a 40-year stretch for "soliciting the murder of a judge".

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Hal Watson, prosecuting, stated that there was "no suggestion that the defendant was inciting that sort of behaviour". But a trial was read a series of letters which were exchanged between the two men around 2015.

In one, Hale told Costello: "I will recognise your ordination, brother. But it is important that you always strive to live up to the word Reverend before your name and important that you strive to obey our great creed on a daily, conscientious basis."

However he took issue with a halo and crown on an emblem being coloured yellow, saying: "The halo is supposed to be clear to represent racial purity. The jewels in the crown are supposed to be white.

"Please let others know so that the mistake is not repeated. Our colours are red, white and black in homage to the third Reich."

In another letter, Hale - a predecessor of Costello's as a leader of Creativity Movement - told his pen pal: "Reverends should be those people who are worthy of being reverend, quite simply. Yes, we are all supposed to be religious zealots for creativity across the land.

"We are supposed to convert all white people en masse. All of the internet talk in the world does not accomplish that.

"Rather, we have to win the streets. I am happy with your public activism, and we need that replicated everywhere."

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service meanwhile confirmed that Costello had "connections with other convicted terrorists". These included National Action member Jack Renshaw, who was jailed for life in 2019 for planning to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper and with whom he had exchanged letters and postcards.

Jurors previously heard that Costello posted written materials and audiobooks, which he personally narrated, for download on creativitymovement.net - a website which he "controlled and managed". Hal Watson, prosecuting, described how his propaganda "called for the subjugation and elimination of non-white persons and the establishment of a white master race".

He told the trial: "This is a call to arms and it is disturbing and distressing, and you may find that much of what you see and hear has absolutely no place in modern society. It is, put bluntly, awful and frightening and intended to disturb and disrupt our society."

Much of the content of these materials cannot be repeated due to its highly offensive nature. But the ECHO can reveal that contained within the numerous documents spread by Costello were abhorrent references to Jewish people and people of colour.

The e-books and audio files sought a "racial holy war". One - entitled RAHOWA, an abbreviation of "racial holy war" - stated that "RAHOWA is inevitable" and "the ultimate and only solution".

Police raided Costello's home in August 2021 after receiving numerous complaints when stickers "promoting" the group's activities were left in public places around Merseyside over the previous months. They seized flags and banners bearing its messages from his house after linking him to the website's IP address.

Officers also found a roll of stickers matching those posted on lampposts in the area bearing the domain, which has since been taken down, as well as others containing an email address connected to the defendant. Their search uncovered Creativity Movement "postcards" and leaflets with titles such as "Mobilize Nature's Finest" and "Become a White Racial Loyalist".

The seized materials contained "imagery with strong Nazist and white supremacist overtones", all in the colours of red, white and black to "replicate Nazi imagery". Costello meanwhile stated in his evidence from the witness box that he had been the "worldwide leader of the Creativity Movement" since at least 2017.

Detectives also found a "ministerial certificate", ordaining him into a role with the aim of "spreading the word and recruiting persons to the church", within his property. He was referred to as both "Reverend Costello" and "Pontifex Maximus", or high priest, of the organisation - which was previously known as the World Church of the Creator and was founded in the USA in the 1970s.

Costello has no previous convictions, but was ordered to serve 300 hours of community service after going absent without leave between September 2006 and March 2012 while serving in the army. Dr Christopher Wood, defending, told the court that his client worked for his brother as a warehouse operative and delivery driver and was also a "supporter of his local boxing club".

He added: "The defendant's education was significantly impaired. He left school at 13 with no qualifications whatsoever, primarily due to an unstable lifestyle with issues around his mother's alcohol and gambling addictions.

"From the age of 19, he joined the army. He was there for approximately two years until he went AWOL due to suffering a back injury.

"He did not return. However his absence was not missed by the army, and there were no concerns over his absence for five years until he was going on holiday to Tenerife and the army stopped him at the airport.

"He felt he was becoming a burden to them. With a heavy heart, he left for that reason.

"He has never been subject to a custodial setting. This will be of considerable concern to him.

"The defendant genuinely believed that what he was doing was lawful in expressing opinions and views that he had, but he accepts and takes on board fully the jury's verdicts and that what he was doing was not lawful. He is regretful of that.

"He does not want anyone to face abuse through their race. He said 'I regret and apologise if my actions have caused any hurt to anyone'.

"Aged 13, the defendant ended up working for his father. He became exposed to extremist views, and clearly those have set in and stayed.

"The defendant is a family man and a hard worker. He can hopefully make amends."

Costello was found guilty of 19 counts of stirring up racial hatred by publishing materials. He was jailed for five years.

Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC said: "You have been convicted by the jury on overwhelming evidence of 19 offences involving the possession, publication and distribution of abusive and insulting material, intending to stir up racial hatred. I have no doubt that that was precisely your intention.

"This was a website unashamedly promoting white supremacy and neo-Nazi ideology. Creativity and the newer incarnation, the Creativity Movement, originated in the United States, and has been in existence for a number of years, since the early 1970s.

"In your evidence, you confirmed that, from 2017 at the very latest, you have been the leader of the Creativity Movement, not just in the UK but worldwide. Quite how big this movement is here or abroad is impossible to say, but sadly recent events - particularly in London - demonstrate that there is a worrying appetite for the sort of material that you were making available.

"It is not an offence to hold these views, however ridiculous they might be, or to seek to promote them in a temperate way, but that is not what you were doing. You were an enthusiastic evangelist for this material, every page of which was dripping with hate.

"The texts do not simply promote white supremacy - entirely gratuitously, they contain outrageously offensive language that would shock and appal any right-thinking person. The ultimate aim, as set out frequently, was the destruction of the Jewish race and all people of colour, achieved by means of a racial holy war.

"It may be that you did not write these words yourself or much of the other material, but this message was never disavowed by you. On the contrary, it was promoted actively by your efforts to make the website and its contents known widely, using marketing materials such as stickers, flags and banners.

"It may be that you yourself would not have used violence or directly discriminated against your perceived enemies, but the mischief of these offences is not confined to causing deep offence. It is the racial hatred that is stirred up and the direct action that is taken by extremists as a consequence.

"This is not an idle, unrealistic fear. The history of the Creativity Movement shows that its fanatics are capable of very serious and deadly violence.

"Hate crimes like this have a tendency to undermine communities and societies - making people feel like they do not belong, making communities fearful and untrusting of others. You say that, as a result of these proceedings, you realise that the material on the website was abusive and might cause hurt, something you did not intend and something you regret.

"Frankly, I doubt that very much. The highly racist and anti-semitic nature of the material you wanted the world to see and embrace was blindingly obvious."

The judge added of Costello's connection to Hale: "The jury have heard reference to Matt Hale, a former member and whom you were in correspondence with. The jury know he is serving a lengthy prison sentence in the US.

"What they didn't know was that this was for the offence of soliciting the murder of a federal judge. I am not suggesting for one moment that you are deliberately encouraging or promoting anything like that, but the world sadly is occupied by people who will take your rallying cry and do bad things."

Merseyside Police's Detective Chief Inspector Andy Milligan said following his sentencing: “Costello placed stickers across public sites in Merseyside with the intention of advertising this racist abhorrent website, in the hope that he would recruit and radicalise people who lived in the area to the Creativity Movement. I would like to thank members of the public for reporting this racist website to us so that we could launch a criminal investigation.

"I would also like to thank the CPS's special crime and counter terrorism division for working with us on this investigation so we could achieve this result. Our detectives worked hard to identify and seize the material whilst also identifying Costello as the main contributor to the site.

"Specialist Merseyside Police cyber crime officers took control of the website and closed it, significantly undermining and impacting upon the global reach of the racist white supremacist organisation, Creativity Movement. The racist and offensive material uncovered by our officers was deplorable and could have caused serious tensions, anguish and violence in our community.

“I hope this result shows that online hate will not be tolerated and online offenders are not anonymous. Merseyside Police take all such reports seriously and we will continue to work hard to unmask and prosecute online offenders - this hate material will be destroyed by our officers, and anyone who creates it will be prosecuted and jailed for their crimes."

Nick Price, head of the CPS' special crime and counter terrorism division, added: "James Costello styled himself as a Reverend as part of his ambition to try and stir up racial hatred wherever possible. The messages he posted were intended to sow disharmony and be a violent call to arms against black and Jewish people.

"Our prosecution was able to prove he was responsible for this racist material which should have no place in our society. It is right that he has been convicted today for these offences."

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