A mother and daughter from Scotland who shared neo-Nazi and antisemitic material on social media were sentenced to 16 to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to hate crime charges.
The mother, Shirley Crowell, 51, claimed that nonwhite people are a “different species” and wrote, among other things, “Hitler tried to save us” and “the need for another Holocaust has never been more urgent than now.” She used neo-Nazi symbols and emojis, spread extremist posts and repeatedly used racist slurs. She also filmed and shared footage of a young child, encouraging him to perform a Nazi salute.
Her daughter, Anna Crowell, 27, who used the pseudonym “Anna Hitler,” referred to Jews as “children of Satan,” shared racist videos and distributed posters promoting a neo-Nazi propaganda film in her local area. She also shared Holocaust denial content and conspiracy theories that falsely linked Jews and Israel to events such as the September 11 and the coronavirus pandemic.
Both women pleaded guilty to racially and religiously motivated hate crime offenses committed between 2021 and 2024 when they appeared in court in Edinburgh in November.
During sentencing this week, Sheriff Charles Wells said the hatred expressed by the mother was “deeply disturbing.” He added that her messages were not only offensive but also “violent and threatening in relation to people of the Jewish faith” and that the involvement of a child constituted a “significant aggravating factor.”
First published: 15:21, 01.08.26