'High priest' who ran racist online cult unmasked as delivery driver

A 'high priest' who ran a racist cult calling for a "holy race war" has been unmasked as a delivery driver. James Costello, 38, was identified as the self-styled "high priest" of the Creativity Movement.

The shamed group "promoted white white supremacy and neo-Nazi ideology" and boasted an army of "fanatics capable of very serious and deadly violence".

At Liverpool Crown Court, it was told that Costello, from Kirkby, produced written materials and audiobooks - which he personally narrated - for download on a website that he "controlled and managed".

Prosecutors told how his vile propaganda "called for the subjugation and elimination of non-white persons and the establishment of a white master race".

Much of the content of these materials cannot be repeated due to its highly offensive nature. Our sister title, the Liverpool Echo, however, can reveal that contained within the numerous documents spread by Costello were abhorrent references to Jewish people and people of colour.

The e-books and audio files sought a "racial holy war". One - entitled RAHOWA, an abbreviation of "racial holy war" - stated that "RAHOWA is inevitable" and "the ultimate and only solution". Police raided Costello's home in August 2021 after receiving numerous complaints when stickers "promoting" the group's activities were left in public places around Merseyside over the previous months.

They seized flags and banners bearing its messages from his house after linking him to the website's IP address. Officers also found a roll of stickers matching those posted on lampposts in the area bearing the domain, which has since been taken down, as well as others containing an email address connected to the defendant.

Their search uncovered Creativity Movement "postcards" and leaflets with titles such as "Mobilize Nature's Finest" and "Become a White Racial Loyalist". Detectives also found a "ministerial certificate" at his property.

The paper ordained him into a role with the aim of "spreading the word and recruiting persons to the church". He was ordered to serve 300 hours of community service.