Three men including two serving British soldiers appeared in court yesterday accused of joining a banned fascist organisation.

Lance Corporal Mikko Vehvilainen, Private Mark Barrett and civilian Alexander Deaking appeared at the Central Criminal Court via video-link for a preliminary hearing.

The trio are accused of being members of neonazi group National Action, which became the first far-right group to be banned in Britain due to its “racist, anti-semitic and homophobic” ideology.