The treasurer of a South Australian far-right group constructed a homemade explosive, had a cache of "terror weapons" and made a list of mosques across the state, a court has heard.
Patrick Patmore, 34, is facing sentencing in the South Australian District Court for possessing extremist material and weapons, as well as taking steps to manufacture an explosive device.
Prosecutor Taryn Amos told the court that Patmore was in possession of an "unsophisticated" homemade explosive, which had the ability to cause injury but not explode.
She said he spent eight years collecting a range of extremist material.
Patmore was also found in possession of ammunition, homemade knives, a machete, and a battle-axe when police raided his home in April 2021.
"The weapons are not decorative heirlooms. Although crude in nature, they can only be described as terror weapons," Ms Amos said.
"Also in his possession were handwritten lists of mosques in South Australia and also persons of interest.
"This was more than idle curiosity."
Patmore was the treasurer of the SA Men's Health Club, which the court heard was a "revolutionary movement or a front for the national socialist network".
Ms Amos said Patmore was not charged with planning an attack, but he "posed a great risk to public safety".
Ms Amos asked Judge Michael Burnett to jail Patmore, but his counsel submitted he should be spared jail or ordered to serve it on home detention.
Joanna Caracoussis, for Patmore, told the court her client – who was a butcher by trade – became "indoctrinated" into a US-based neo-Nazi group as a vulnerable teenager and did not question their extremist views.
"He didn't join these groups with a nefarious intention – what he wanted was social acceptance," she said.
She said Patmore could not "accept things at face value" and had become obsessed with "going down these rabbit holes" in his research of politics and religion.
The court heard a psychologist found the reading material at his house "reflected him being a terrorist, so much as they reflect him being a 16th century knight".
Ms Caracoussis said her client also "took pride" in the community work he did with the SA Men's Health Club.
Judge Burnett will sentence Patmore in December.
