Satanist allegedly caught with mass killer manifestos claimed to be ‘possessed’

A Satanist claimed to have made a “pact with the devil” after being caught with extreme right-wing material, a court has heard.

Declan George Candiani, 26, was stopped at Stansted Airport by counter-terrorism police on 13 August 2024.

He had been attempting to go on holiday to Finland with his girlfriend.

After looking at the contents of his phone, officers arrested him and searched the home in Streatham, in London’s south-west, where he lives with his mother.

Candiani, in a police interview, claimed he had a “possessed mindset”.

He had made a “pact with the devil” to be a “minion”, the trial at the Old Bailey heard on Monday.

Candiani claimed he had downloaded material after becoming interested in the Satanic group Order of Nine Angles (O9A).

However, the prosecution said Candiani, who has a neo-Nazi tattoo on his chest, also had an interest in extreme right-wing ideology.

Candiani has denied four charges of collection of information likely to be useful for terrorism.

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Opening the trial on Monday, prosecutor Emily Dummett detailed the volume of “horrific” material found on Candiani’s iPhone and iPad.

The extreme right-wing material included “manifestos” of mass killers and sexual violence against children, and advocated the use of serious violence to achieve white supremacy, Ms Dummett said.

In one document, international white supremacy group Combat 18 promoted “covert action” and “lone wolf” tactics in the Nazi cause, the court heard.

A text entitled No Lives Matter Kill Guide identified truck attacks on outdoor markets and rallies, targeted stabbing techniques, and how to leave no trace.

In Hater’s Handbook, the leader of the Satanic neo-Nazi group Maniac Murder Cult claimed to have “murdered for white race”.

He said: “Our main goal is to spread the flames of Lucifer and continue his mission of ethnic cleansing, great drive of purification.”

The handbook proclaimed rape to be a “myth” and encouraged people to follow the example of mass killers like Anders Breivik, jurors were told.

A document entitled 21 Silent Techniques of Killing outlined close contact “assassination” with a spike, knife and nunchucks, the court heard.

In his police interview, Candiani said the material on his phone stemmed from his discovery three years before of the O9A, which has been associated with right-wing extremism.

Jurors were told some material associated with O9A advocates violence, ritual killing, mass violence, paedophilia and the collapse of western civilisation.

Candiani told police: “I started to have hallucinations because they’re a Satanic group and I started hearing the voice of the devil, or some kind of demon inside me.

“And during that time I made a pact with the devil and I signed it and I told him that I’d be like a minion, soldier.

“So from that point on I felt that I had no control over a lot of my actions.”

He said he had a “possessed mindset” from reading the O9A texts.

He denied being a Nazi, saying it was like “going down a rabbit hole”, jurors heard.

Because Candiani had claimed to hear voices, he was assessed by psychiatrists who found he had a “mild personality disorder” and was fit to stand trial.

Experts agreed the voices he described were not a symptom of psychosis but a manifestation of his own personality, the court was told.

Ms Dummett said Candiani would now claim  that the terrorist documents he is charged with possessing got on to his devices “accidentally” as he carried out “legitimate research into satanic material”.

However, the prosecutor suggested there was evidence supporting the defendant’s interest in extreme right-wing ideology.

In August 2024, he expressed an interest in joining Active Clubs, which are right-wing extremist groups with a focus on fitness, combat sports training and survivalist training, the court heard.

Jurors were shown a picture of Candiani’s chest bearing a tattoo of an 88 symbol said to represent the eighth letter of the alphabet and meaning “Heil Hitler”.

The Old Bailey trial continues.