‘Big fan of Hitler’ tested petrol bombs with his girlfriend

A couple who tested petrol bombs and tried to buy a gun after sharing videos glorifying right-wing terrorists including Anders Breivik.

Rex Clark, 20, described as a ‘big fan of Hitler’, experimented with homemade bombs with his girlfriend Sofija Vinogradova, 21, after they met on Telegram.

Vinogradova earlier admitted two charges of collecting terrorist information and attempting to purchase a firearm.

Clark was convicted of attempting to purchase a firearm by a jury last year but acquitted of disseminating terrorist publications after a retrial at Kingston Crown Court.

Judge Sarah Plashckes, KC, said she will now sentence the pair on 16 November as reports for Clark have not been completed.

Jurors heard the pair discussed their ideology and ‘seemed to spur each other on’.

Clark experimented with making parts for homemade bombs in his bedroom, the court heard.

The prosecuton described him as a ‘big fan of Hitler’ with a ‘habit of glorifying extreme violence, including mass killing.’

His posts included a video featuring Brenton Tarrant, who stormed two mosques in New Zealand and killed 51 people in 2019, while another referenced Breivik, who murdered 77 people in Norway in July 2011.

The couple tried to buy a Glock self-loading pistol, between 1 June and 10 August 2024, the court heard.

Louise Gray, prosecuting, earlier told the court: ‘Mr Clark and Ms Vinogradova were chatting on Telegram where they were demonstrating an extreme right wing mindset.

‘They talked about testing petrol bombs. There are four videos of them doing that in a wooded area.’

Ms Gray told the court that they discussed buying a Glock and there was evidence Vinogradova paid someone to acquire one.

‘They were discussing purchasing a firearm.

‘There is evidence that Ms Vinogradova provided money to a person.’

But she added: ‘There is no evidence that a firearm was actually received.’

Clark, of Ilford, east London, denied but was convicted of attempting to purchase a firearm.

He was cleared of six counts of dissemination of terrorist publications between October 2023 and the summer of 2024.

Vinogradova, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, admitted two counts of collecting information likely to be useful to terrorism and attempting to purchase a firearm.

The pair denied a further charge of preparation of terrorist acts and the prosecution offered no evidence against them on that charge last October.