- Father Mark Rowles, a Catholic priest, admitted posting violent, racist and anti-Muslim messages in neo-Nazi Telegram chatrooms.
- Rowles, who posed as a 16-year-old, claimed he joined the groups out of loneliness and for role-play.
A Catholic priest who admitted discussing bombing mosques and shooting Black people in the head in neo-Nazi online chatrooms has been sentenced to a 12-month community order.
Father Mark Rowles, 57, used the name “skinheadlad1488” in a chatroom called Aryan Reich Killers where grotesquely offensive messages about Muslims were written.
On Thursday, Rowles, of St John Lloyd Catholic Church in Cardiff, admitted three counts of sending menacing or offensive messages using the Telegram app in May and June 2024. He will complete 150 hours of community service, pay £199 in costs, and be subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order for three years. The Catholic Church in Wales will conduct its own review.
Rowles was arrested as part of a counter-terror police investigation into extreme right-wing activity on social media apps.
He posted Islamophobic and anti-Muslim messages about Muslims, inciting violence towards them. In one he said “bomb mosques.”
In another expletive-filled post containing a racial slur, he wrote, “they should all be strung up or shot.”
The court was told he described himself in an online profile as a 16-year-old skinhead neo-Nazi and a loner. His profile picture showed a young white man with a face covering, alongside a German flag and the words “right hand path always.”
Prosecutor Rob Simkins said the messages showed “hostility based on religion and race.” Anti-terror detectives traced Rowles through the Telegram app and his mobile phone.
In another discussion in a neo-Nazi chatroom, he and another user discussed the ethnicity of Londoners. Rowles wrote:
“a few bullets to their brains would help.”
During police interviews, Rowles said he was not racist and joined the online groups because he was lonely and had a sexual fetish for role play.
Defending, Jacqui Seal said, “Clearly this is a disturbing case. Throughout his life in the Catholic Church he has never been the subject of a complaint or disciplinary action. He has no previous convictions.”
A spokesperson for the Catholic Church in Wales said Rowles had not been in active ministry since the allegations were revealed.
In the year ending March 2025, police recorded 3,199 religiously‑motivated hate crimes targeting Muslims (excluding the Metropolitan Police Service), up from 2,690 the previous year — a 19% increase.
