Teenage members of online 'Monkey Mafia' group targeted US influencers in hoax ‘swatting’ calls

Dylan Ash and Kieron Ellison, both 19, are accused of being part of an online syndicate called Monkey Mafia, which carried out hoax calls between October 2022 and June 2023, Liverpool Crown Court was told on Wednesday.

Opening the trial, Joe Allman, prosecuting, told jurors swatting was a form of hoax call which alleged an armed attack and resulted in special weapons and tactics teams, or Swat teams, being called.

The “gold standard” of the offence would result in a targeted individual being detained at gunpoint by police, he said.

He told the jury: “Monkey Mafia were prolific swatters.”

They used social media including Telegram, X and Discord, to plan, co-ordinate and publicise their activities, he said.

The group targeted American influencers Kai Cenat and Adin Ross and made hoax calls alleging armed attacks at universities, schools, hospitals and hotels, Mr Allman said.

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The court heard among the places targeted were Boston University, the indigenous students’ department of the University of Western Canada, Tamaya Hyatt resort in New Mexico and Sparrow Hospital in Michigan, as well as locations in Kent and Merseyside near Ash and Ellison’s homes.

Mr Allman said: “They were hoping to cause major disruption and fear.”

He said the point of the calls was to demonstrate the group’s “clout”.

He added: “They wanted to be feared and respected in certain quarters.”

The court heard the first incident happened on October 1 2022, when Ash was aged 16 and Ellison aged 15.

The group were said to have called police in the UK alleging there was a man threatening children with a machete at an address in Deal, Kent, near to where Ash was living.

A hoax call to police in Merseyside was made the following day reporting males fighting with machetes near in McDonalds in St Helens, where Ellison is from, Mr Allman said.

He said there was a “racist element” to the offences but it was not the only motivation.

He said: “It’s highly likely that a combination of greed, online vanity, racist hostility and just sheer anti-social hostility all played a part in who they decided to target.”

The jury was told it would hear calls to the American emergency services which had been provided by the FBI.

The court was also shown recordings from Discord calls involving the group.

Before playing the first of the recordings, Mr Allman warned the jury they included “quite graphic racist and antisemitic language”.

The jury was told hoax calls they made to the US followed a pattern were a caller would report a bomb or roaming gunman, sometimes while the sound of gunshots could be heard in the background.

Mr Allman said Monkey Mafia often took credit for the incidents on their social media account.

Mark Gatley KC, defending Ash, told the jury Monkey Mafia was a chat group.

He said: “This is a case of Dylan Ash, a friendless, isolated 16-year-old, sitting in his bedroom, in his grandparents’ house, late into the night, finding a community, often involving older males, and getting swept up in the excitement.”

Ash and Ellison deny five counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and one count of conspiracy to bomb hoax.

Ash also denies a further count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, related to false reports allegedly made to police in the US between July 2023 and October 2024.

The trial, expected to last three weeks, will continue on Monday.