Adolf Hitler: Inspiration for Combat 18

He attended several Loyalist street activities before getting involved in Combat 18. He described the organisation as fundamentally neo-nazi, its principles based on fascism.

Combat 18 takes its name from the first and eighth letters of the alphabet - A and H, the initials for Adolf Hitler.

Throughout the 1990's Combat 18 was associated with acts of terrorism and violence including arson attacks.

Wells said, "I still believe some of the things I used to believe in, but I now realise that you can't go around hurting innocent people."

Oldham riots

A scene from the Oldham riots

He was present at the Oldham riot on 26 May 2001 with other leading Combat 18 activists and local football hooligans.

They had travelled from around the country in an attempt to provoke violent retaliation from the town's Asian community.

Darren Wells, with cropped hair and a stocky build, looked the part. But he had gone to Oldham in an attempt to prevent trouble.

Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, was also in Oldham. He was canvassing for the General Election with local party organiser Mick Treacy.

They visited the troublemakers in a pub. Wells remembers Griffin telling them, "We are all on the same side."

Griffin firmly denied this allegation when interviewed by Panorama.

Links

The link between Combat 18 and the BNP goes back to the early 1990's. Combat 18 provided "security" at BNP meetings and events.

Your average BNP supporter isn't as intellectual as Griffin

Darren Wells

Wells, as one of the senior organisers in Combat 18, knew of Nick Griffin. He regarded the BNP leader as a figure who shared many of the fundamental beliefs of the far right such as Holocaust denial and forcible repatriation.

Wells is sceptical of the apparent transformation that Griffin claims for himself and his party. He believes most members do not support the party's change in policy from forcible to voluntary repatriation.

He said, "Your average BNP supporter isn't as intellectual as Griffin. They would be just like 'Okay, ship 'em up, let's get a boat off' and that would be it. It would be as simple as that. But Griffin knows he's not going to get elected by saying things like that."

This article was written for Panorama by Nick Lowles of Searchlight magazine. He is also author of the recently published "White Riot! The Violent History of Combat 18".