Devon & Cornwall Police News site

A 35-year-old man from Plymouth has today, Thursday 13 March, been handed a suspended sentence for inciting racial hatred online.

Dean Podesta, of Teats Hill Flats, pleaded guilty at Plymouth Crown Court in September 2024 to one offence of inciting racial hatred contrary to section 19 (1) of the Public Order Act 1986 and another of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation contrary to section 29C of the Public Order Act 1986.

Podesta was arrested in July 2022 following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing South West (CTPSW) in collaboration with Devon and Cornwall Police. Podesta’s online activity resulted in multiple reports by the public to law enforcement and, despite several attempts by multiple agencies to support him, his offending continued. This resulted in a thorough investigation.

During a six-month period in 2022, Podesta posted threatening, abusive and insulting content on more than 330 occasions. The nature of the posts were abhorrent and negatively impacted a wide section of the public. He revelled in his online notoriety, bragging that he was “on the ‘hate speech’ top 10 list’’ and aspired to make the number one position. 

Podesta was sentenced to 14 months, suspended for 18 months and received a 30 day rehabilitation order.

He will also be subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order for five years.

The defendant must:

1. Not to have more than one internet enabled mobile phone;
2. Not to have more than one internet enabled computer, which includes handheld/tablet devices,
3. Not to install any virtual private network software on any device;
4. Not to use any social media.
5. Not to delete the usage history on any internet enabled device, computer or mobile phone used, and to allow such items to be inspected as required by any police officer from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary or whichever police area you reside in. Such inspection may include removal of the device for inspection and the installation of monitoring software;
6. You must disclose to the designated police officer:

1. the number, make, model and IMEI number of your registered mobile phone and the number of the SIM card in that device, as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event within 24 hours of the service of this order;
2. the number, make, model and IMEI number of your registered computer including handheld/tablet devices and the number of the SIM card in that device, as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event within 24 hours of the service of this order;
3. any changes to these devices must be disclosed as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event within 24 hours of any change;

The disclosure of numbers to the police must be done in 7 days.

Chief Inspector Dom Nicholls for Local Policing in Plymouth said: “This case highlights the effective way in which local policing teams work with the wider Counter Terrorism Policing network to protect our communities. Whilst not assessed as terrorism, the behaviour demonstrated in this case creates division, hatred and a permissive environment for radicalisation.

“Despite multiple attempts by police and partners to divert Mr Podesta away from this offending, he continued.

“Plymouth is an inclusive and welcoming city and Devon and Cornwall Police does not tolerate hate crime. We encourage our communities to report hate crime and this conviction should give people confidence that it is taken seriously.’’

If you need to report online hate crime, many online platforms also have reporting functions available to users. Make sure you use these when experiencing harmful online content. You can go to Report Harmful Content to find out how to report across some of the most well-known social media sites and other popular online platforms.

If you’ve seen or heard something that could potentially be related to terrorism, trust your instincts and report it at ACT (Action Counters Terrorism).