Jeremy Kyle hits out at Novak Djokovic's mother

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Ben John was found guilty by a jury of possessing a record of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. The 21-year-old was given a two-year suspended sentence at Leicester Crown Court in August.

Mr John was also encouraged by a judge to read classics including Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities.

During a review hearing at the same court on Thursday, Judge Timothy Spencer QC asked Mr John to write down the books he had read since they last spoke.

Judge Spencer said: “It is clear you have tried to sort your life out. I would like to know what you have read of the classic literature you told the jury you were interested in.

“There is nothing in the report on that and I want you to write down now what literature you have read since we last met.”

Mr John, from Lincoln, told the judge: “I enjoyed Shakespeare more than I did Jane Austen, but I still enjoyed Jane Austen by a degree.”

To which Judge Spencer replied: “Well I find that encouraging.”

Mr John was first identified as a terror risk days after his 18th birthday. He had been referred to the Government’s Prevent programme which aims to de-radicalise youngsters at risk of extremism.

However, the former De Montfort University student continued to download “repellent” right-wing documents alongside content about the Nazis.

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He also acquired a manual that contained bomb-making instructions and wrote a letter raging against gay people, liberals and immigrants.

During his trial, the court heard the conviction had a maximum jail sentence of 15 years, but Judge Spencer came to the conclusion that this was an isolated incident and his crime was likely to be an act of teenage folly.

The judge told Mr John’s barrister Harry Bentley that his client had avoided imprisonment by the skin of his teeth.

Addressing Mr John at the end of his trial, the judge stated: “On January 4 you will tell me what you have read and I will test you on it.

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“I will test you and if I think you are [lying to] me you will suffer.

“I will be watching you, Ben John, every step of the way. If you let me down you know what will happen.”

Mr John is also subject to a five-year Serious Crime Prevention Order, meaning he must stay in touch with the police and allow them to monitor his online activity.

He was also ordered to complete 30 days on a Healthy Identity Intervention programme.

Judge Spencer told Mr John that he acknowledged publicity of his case had affected his rehabilitation.

He told him at the sentencing last year: “You are a lonely individual with few if any true friends.”

The judge added that he was “highly susceptible” to recruitment by others more prone to action.

But he concluded: “I am not of the view that harm was likely to have been caused.”

He made Mr John promise him not to research any more right-wing materials and told him to return to court in six months for the judge to check his progress.

The Attorney General has asked the Court of Appeal to review the sentence handed to Mr John.

Suella Braverman’s decision to refer the sentence to the court came after the anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate asked for the case to be considered under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

A hearing is due to be held on January 19.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The Attorney-General was absolutely right to ask the Court of Appeal to review this pathetic sentence.

“It is inexplicable that a man who collected nearly 70,000 neo-Nazi and terror-related documents could entirely avoid a custodial sentence for crimes that carry a maximum jail term of 15 years. Instead, Ben John left court with a mere suspended sentence and some English homework.

“For all the novels that the judge ordered Mr John to peruse as he enjoys his unearned freedom, it was notable that Crime and Punishment was not among them.

“Perhaps the judge himself ought to review that classic as he reflects on the risk that his dangerous sentence poses to the public.”

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