‘Far-right sympathiser’ threatened to kill probation officer
A "far-right sympathiser" who was jailed for a terror offence threatened to shoot his probation officer because he believed she would prevent his release from prison, a court has heard.
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Nicholas Brock, who was serving a prison sentence at HMP Bullingdon for possessing information likely to be useful to a terrorist, would routinely hurl abuse at his probation officer Saiqa Yasmin and told another probation officer "I’ll just shoot her myself" after he learned a parole board had decided not to release him, a jury was told.
The 57-year-old is on trial at Oxford Crown Court accused of making threats to kill prison staff on two occasions – first to a prison officer on May 20 2024, then to probation officer Oliwia Pudlewska on October 9 2024.
Ms Pudlewska, who was Mr Brock’s assigned offender manager at the time, told jurors the alleged incident took place during a planned meeting between the two of them.
"She (Ms Yasmin) came up in almost every meeting," she told the court while giving evidence on Wednesday.
"The attitude was always negative, it was normal for Mr Brock to hurl abuse towards her.
"He was calling her a bitch, always referring to her as ‘that Asian’ – he never referred to her by her name."
Brock had attended a parole hearing in March 2024, but was told a month later the board had decided not to release him, the court heard.
He blamed Ms Yasmin along with other prison staff for the board’s decision, jurors were told.
In October 2024, he was told his anticipated release date would be in March 2025, and he met with Ms Pudlewska to discuss preparations.
"He kept on going back to ‘that woman’, he was quite negative that he would be on a recall or return to custody because of Ms Yasmin," Ms Pudlewska told jurors.
"He was just convinced that because of the war memorabilia that he collects, he would be recalled.
"He wanted his probation officer changed.
"I said I would take that away as feedback and see if I can discuss that with management.
"He was quite calm and asked me if I was going to shoot her.
"He got closer to me and sort of just said it at me."
Ms Pudlewska said she challenged the defendant on his comment.
"He became quite dismissive, saying this is just how he speaks and this is just the language he uses," Ms Pudlewska continued.
"I tried to move the conversation to more positive things, so that’s why we talked about his hobbies and memorabilia."
She further told the court Brock mentioned possessing a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, as well as a number of deactivated weapons, in his collection.
She said: "As the appointment went on, he became more frustrated that he would not be able to do any of that because of ‘that woman’.
"He became visible angry and shaking – and he said he would just shoot her himself.
"I ended that appointment because I thought there was no way I could bring that conversation back to being positive again," Ms Pudlewska told jurors.
"It made me feel quite uncomfortable, just because of the history with Mr Brock."
Prior to the alleged incident on October 9, Brock had threatened to shoot a prison officer, Christopher English, to the back of the head over a jacket potato he was served at lunch, which did not meet his dietary requirements.
His former offender manager, Michael Long – also giving evidence on Wednesday, told jurors he witnessed Brock behaving poorly toward Ms Yasmin on frequent occasions.
"He believed that me and his probation officer (Ms Yasmin) had lied and made stuff up and purposefully manipulated the parole board against him," Mr Long said.
"A couple of times he made racial comments, called her ‘Asian persuasion’ and would not talk, answer, or communicate with Ms Yasmin."
Another witness, prison officer Theodor Crihana, told the court in his evidence about conversations he had with Brock on the firearms he kept in his collection.
"He said he likes collecting war memorabilia, especially firearms, and told me that if you knew certain individuals, these firearms that are deactivated can be reactivated back," Mr Crihana told jurors.
Brock, of no fixed abode, denies two counts of making threats to kill.
The trial continues.