'Monkey Mafia' teens made bomb hoaxes, jury told

Two teenage boys carried out hoax "swatting" calls targeting influencers as well as universities and hospitals in the hope of causing "major disruption and fear" for online "clout", a court has heard.

Dylan Ash and Kieron Ellison, both 19, are on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of being part of the alleged online syndicate Monkey Mafia, which carried out hoax calls between October 2022 and June 2023.

Swatting involves callers falsely reporting incidents to get armed police teams sent to an address.

Ash, from Warrington in Cheshire, and Ellison, from St Helens on Merseyside, deny five counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and one count of conspiracy to bomb hoax.

Ash also denies a further count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, relating to false reports allegedly made to police in the US between July 2023 and October 2024.

In the United States, SWAT stands for Special Weapons And Tactics.

Joe Allman, opening the case for the prosecution, told the jury: "Monkey Mafia were prolific swatters."

He said the "gold standard" of the offence would result in a targeted individual being detained by police at gunpoint.

The court heard that the Monkey Mafia collective used social media platforms including Telegram, X and Discord, to plan, co-ordinate and publicise their activities.

It targeted US influencers Kai Cenat and Adin Ross, and made hoax calls alleging armed attacks at universities, schools, hospitals and hotels, Allman said.

The court heard that among the places targeted were Boston University, the indigenous students' department of the University of Western Canada, Tamaya Hyatt resort in New Mexico and Sparrow Hospital in Michigan.

In the UK, locations in Kent and Merseyside - near Ash and Ellison's homes - were allegedly targeted.

Allman said they were hoping to cause "major disruption and fear" to demonstrate the group's "clout".

"They wanted to be feared and respected in certain quarters," he said.

The court heard the first incident happened on 1 October 2022, when Ash was aged 16 and Ellison 15.

The group was said to have called police in the UK alleging there was a man threatening children with a machete at an address in Deal, Kent, near to where Ash was living.

Allman said a hoax call to police in Merseyside was made the following day reporting males fighting with machetes near McDonald's in St Helens, where Ellison is from.

There was a "racist element" to the offences, Allman suggested, but it was not the only motivation.

He said: "It's highly likely that a combination of greed, online vanity, racist hostility and just sheer anti-social hostility all played a part in who they decided to target."

Members of the jury were told they would hear calls to the US emergency services which had been provided by the FBI, as well as recordings from Discord calls involving the group.

Jurors were warned they included "quite graphic racist and antisemitic language".

The court heard the hoax calls to the US followed a pattern, where a caller would report a bomb or a roaming gunman, sometimes while the sound of gunshots could be heard in the background.

Mark Gatley KC, defending Ash, told the jury Monkey Mafia was a "chat group".

He said: "This is a case of Dylan Ash, a friendless, isolated 16-year-old, sitting in his bedroom, in his grandparents' house, late into the night, finding a community, often involving older males, and getting swept up in the excitement."

The trial, expected to last three weeks, was adjourned until Monday.

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