White supremacist jailed for asylum seeker attack

A white supremacist who stabbed an asylum seeker at a hotel in what a judge said was "undoubtedly a terrorist attack" has been jailed for life.

Callum Parslow, 32, stabbed Nahom Hagos in the chest and hand at the Pear Tree Inn at Smite near Worcester.

At Woolwich Crown Court, Parslow was given a minimum term of 22 years and eight months for attempted murder.

Sentencing Parslow, Mr Justice Dove said his attack on Mr Hagos was motivated by his adoption of a "far right neo-Nazi mindset, which fuelled your warped, violent and racist views."

During his trial Parslow, of Bromyard Terrace, Worcester, told the jury he travelled to the hotel to stab "one of the Channel migrants" because he was "angry and frustrated".

He was convicted of attempted murder following a three-week trial at Leicester Crown Court last year.

He also pleaded guilty to an unconnected sexual offence and two charges of sending electronic communications with intent to cause distress and anxiety.

The judge told him his victim suffered "devastating injuries" in "a vicious and unprovoked assault on a complete stranger".

Mr Justice Dove told Parslow that a life sentence was the only suitable punishment, adding he posed "a high risk of serious harm to members of the public as a result of further violent offences".

Mr Hagos is a 25-year-old Eritrean national who has been granted leave to remain in the UK until November 2028.

He had previously been a resident at the hotel, and had returned to borrow a bicycle when the attack took place.

Parslow stabbed Mr Hagos in the chest and hand with a "specialist" knife he had bought online for £770, which the judge said had an "especially hard and sharp blade".

Mr Justice Dove said a clinical psychologist had diagnosed Mr Hagos as having depression and PTSD as a direct result of the attack.

In a victim impact statement read in court by the prosecution, he said he continued to suffer "excruciating pain" in his hand and struggled to sleep.

"I had been living and pursuing a happy life before the incident," he said. "This is now a distant memory.

"I feel lonely and don't feel safe on the street. My life has been turned upside down."

Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's counter terrorism division, said: "This attack was carried out to intimidate a section of the public - namely asylum seekers and those providing accommodation to asylum seekers.

"Callum Parslow's neo-Nazi views motivated him to viciously attack a man based solely on the colour of his skin and the place he was from, and he sought to spread fear amongst a community.

"This was an act of terrorism."

During his trial a jury heard that Parslow, who has a tattoo of Adolf Hitler's signature on his arm, tried to post a "manifesto" on X before his arrest, which claimed he did his "duty to England" by trying to "exterminate" his victim.

But the message failed to send.

In the failed post, Parslow railed against what he called the "evil enemies of nature and of England" who he identified as "the Jews, the Marxists and the globalists" that he said were responsible for demonising Christianity, white people and European culture.

A police search of Parslow's flat found a second knife in a sheath, an axe, a metal baseball bat, a red armband bearing a swastika, a Nazi-era medallion and copies of Mein Kampf.

Parslow carried out the attack while he was being investigated for malicious communication and exposure.

Between July and August 2023, Parslow used social media to send "grossly offensive" messages "of a sexual and racist nature", as well as a sexually explicit video, to a woman who was a prominent TV journalist at the time.

The woman's daughter was also targeted in the messages.

In a victim impact statement, she said she has lost her sense of security and often woke up from sleep to check all the windows and doors were closed.

She added: "This incident has scared me as it has made me realise that there are people like the defendant who are not just keyboard warriors but who will go to extreme lengths to hurt people."

The judge said Parslow's actions were motivated by his "extreme right-wing mindset" and his "racist and misogynist attitude".

For those offences, Parslow was given two sentences of 18 months.

He was also sentenced to two years for possession of a bladed article in a public place.

He had been convicted of similar offences in 2018, when he was jailed for 30 months for seven counts of stalking causing fear of violence and three counts of sending indecent or offensive communications.

Parslow sent messages to 13 different women from Facebook accounts with false names which were "sexually graphic and extremely violent".

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