A young couple have been spared jail for spraying hateful neo-Nazi graffiti across a major university campus despite a court being told they have links to a known white-supremacist group.
Christopher Carrig, 20, and girlfriend Taylor Bayly, 20, were sentenced on Tuesday over the vandalism spree at Macquarie University in the early hours of January 25, 2024.
A group of five people, including three who are yet to be identified, sprayed swastikas and slogans such as "f*** Antifa scum" and "heil Hitler".
Carrig, a member of neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network, was also sentenced over an anti-Semitic incident from May in which he intimidated a 20-year-old man, who he targeted for being Jewish.
Bayly is known to also conform with the network's ideologies through her association with her boyfriend, according to court documents.
When police arrested Carrig at his Marsfield family home in July, they found what a prosecutor described as "more or less a shrine to the Third Reich".
A statement of agreed facts, presented at the sentencing, revealed he kept framed pictures of Nazi leaders in his bedroom and had Adolf Hitler as his phone screen-saver.
"The interior of the accused's bedroom was covered wall to wall in black and white photographs of German soldiers from WWII, some of whom are committing atrocities," the court document said.
"Throughout several rooms of the house was evidence of white-supremacy stickers and flags, with the accused's door having an oversized swastika."
The National Socialist Network "promotes neo-Nazi ideology, white supremacist and racist views, while also opposing multiculturalism and (advocating) for a 'white'-only Australia", the document said.
Carrig recorded footage of himself intimidating the Jewish man, which he shared online with other network members under the Twitter handle "The Eshay Waffen".
As the 20-year-old approached the man he could be heard saying "I found a Jew wearing TNs", referring to a popular design of Nike shoe.
The man was afraid of being assaulted or stabbed for being Jewish after refusing to hand over his shoes in response to Carrig's demand, the document said.
During the interaction, which lasted nearly two minutes, Carrig said: "It's quite low for a Jew to be waiting for a bus. Can't you call uncle Goldstein and ask him to bring you a BMW?"
He also told the man to remove a Jewish kippah - or skullcap - he was wearing and ordered him to kiss his shoes.
Police prosecutor Mikael Dalgas-Hansen told the court Carrig was motivated by his extreme ideologies.
"There is a mindset at play here and he has now decided to act that out," he said.
Carrig's lawyer Rylie Hahn said her client had recently experienced significant trauma with the tragic deaths of his mother and sister.
Police located the bodies of the woman and her teenage daughter at a home in July, roughly a week after Carrig was arrested at the same location.
There is no suggestion he was involved in their deaths.
The girl had significant disabilities and was under the full-time care of her mother.
Carrig was given some of the Nazi paraphernalia by the woman, the court heard.
At the time of spray-painting the Nazi slogans, both Bayly and Carrig were intoxicated and were acting in response to a socialist poster they had seen, Magistrate Mark Whelan was told.
Sergeant Dalgas-Hansen said the group involved in the graffiti were motivated by hatred.
"They're very specific, they're very targeted," he said.
Carrig and Bayly, who have been in a relationship for about three years, have matching tattoos of the numbers "14" and "88" behind their ears, which carry neo-Nazi associations and were clearly visible as they faced court.
Mr Whelan sentenced Bayly to serve a 15-month community corrections order, while Carrig was handed a two-year intensive corrections order in lieu of a full-time jail sentence.
The pair were ordered to reimburse the university for the cost of the damage.
