A British man convicted of a terror offense has been ordered to read classical novels including Pride and Prejudice after being spared jail, according to The Mirror.
Ben John, a 21-year-old Nazi sympathizer, was told by Judge Timothy Spencer QC he could stay out of prison if he avoided white-supremacy materials and read classic literature.
Jane Austin, William Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens were recommended as the judge told John he had avoided jail "by the skin of his teeth."
John will have to return to court every four months to be tested on his reading by the judge, according to Lincolnshire Live.
He had first been identified as a terror risk just days after his 18th birthday and was referred to the Prevent program - an organization that aims to reduce the threat of terrorism by stopping people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
Despite this, he carried on downloading right-wing documents as well as a bomb-making manual.
He also read about Nazis and wrote letters raging against the LGBT+ community, immigrants and liberals, claiming to be a part of "The Lincoln Fascist Underground."
In 2019 he copied more than 9,000 right-wing and terror-related documents onto his computer, adding another 2,600 a few months later.
He was found guilty by a jury of possessing information likely to be useful for preparing an act of terror on August 11. The court heard that conviction had a maximum jail sentence of 15 years.
Judge Spencer concluded the crime was likely "an act of teenage folly" and an isolated incident.
"You are a lonely individual with few if any true friends." Judge Spencer said at the hearing. Adding that he was "highly susceptible" to recruitment by others, saying, "I am not of the view that harm was likely to have been caused."
John promised not to read any more right-wing material.
The judge then asked him, "Have you read Dickens? Austen? Start with Pride and Prejudice and Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
"On January 4 you will tell me what you have read and I will test you on it. I will test you and if I think you are [lying to] me you will suffer. I will be watching you, Ben John, every step of the way. If you let me down you know what will happen."