Cavan Medlock armed himself with a knife and went to the offices of a solicitor in Harrow

A self-confessed neo-Nazi who armed himself with a knife in a plot to stab a solicitor as a “rallying cry” for fellow far right extremists will be detained in hospital indefinitely.

Cavan Medlock, 32, brought a six-inch hunting knife, handcuffs, and gaffer tape to the offices of Duncan Lewis solicitors in Harrow, northwest London on September 7, 2020.

His target was Toufique Hossain, the firm’s Director of Public Law, who had recently been identified as a lawyer representing asylum seekers who arrived in the UK on small boats.

Medlock confessed he had planned to “capture” Mr Hossain and put the flags of US Confederates and Hitler’s Nazis on display “to encourage other nationalists to rally to his cause”

In dramatic footage from inside the law offices, Medlock, brandishing the knife, demanded to see Mr Hossain before being heroically tackled by the firm’s receptionist.

Medlock was disarmed during a prolonged struggle, in which he threw punches and aimed kicks at the staffer who had grabbed hold of him.

He was then detained by a lawyer who rushed into the lobby to help.

He admitted he had come to the offices to kill Mr Hossain, and was heard saying “unfortunately I didn’t finish the job”.

Scotland Yard said Medlock had read a news report featuring words from Mr Hossain prior to launching the attack. The incident also followed controversial rhetoric from then-Home Secretary Priti Patel, in which she attacked “activist” lawyers and blamed them for issues on immigration.

At Kingston crown court on Thursday, Mr Justice Bennathan ordered that Medlock is held indefinitely in hospital to receive treatment for mental health disorders.

The court heard he has been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder and mixed personality disorder, and has also displayed symptoms of depression.

The judge said Medlock was responsible for a “direct and disgraceful attack on decent and hard-working people doing important and honourable work”.

He found Medlock has “deep-seated racist views about any group of people he regards as not ‘pure’, white and British”.

“He is prepared to use armed violence in pursuit of those views”, added the judge, and while he could not be sure Medlock intended to kill Mr Hossain he concluded he was prepared to use violence “if needs be”.

Scotland Yard said Medlock described himself as a “Nazi” and had a copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf manifesto at his home in Harrow, northwest London.

The force said Medlock “wanted to provide a ‘rallying cry’ to inspire other extreme right-wing terrorists”.

In his rucksack when he was arrested was a knife, two sets of handcuffs, two rolls of gaffer tape, a Nazi flag, and a US Confederate flag.

Two days before the attack, Mr Hossain was named in the press as a lawyer who was representing asylum seekers who had been due for deportation, but their flight was cancelled due to fresh human rights legal challenges.

Mrs Patel’s anti-lawyer rhetoric, which was echoed by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, was condemned at the time for endangering those working in the profession.

Medlock hurled racist abuse during the incident, at anyone he believed to be of Pakistani heritage, Jewish, or Eastern European.

He had faced a full criminal trial earlier this year, but the case was abandoned when Medlock attacked a black health worker who was sitting with him in the dock.

“It may have been coincidental that the nurse he attacked was black”, said the judge. “It may not.”

The judge then concluded that Medlock was mentally unfit to enter pleas to the charges.

He faced a trial to determine the facts, and a jury concluded he committed the act of making a threat to kill and the preparation of terrorist acts.

“Our investigation uncovered how Medlock had planned this attack and wanted to intimidate the public, particularly anyone who might be regarded as immigrants”, said Acting Commander Helen Flanagan, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

“He was prevented in carrying out his plan thanks to the extraordinarily brave actions of a receptionist, who managed to disarm him of a large knife.

“By his own admission, at the time of these events, Medlock identified as a Nazi. Our investigation supported this, with officers finding a copy of Mein Kampf at his home address.

“It is clear from what he said in police interviews, Medlock wanted to provide a ‘rallying cry’ to inspire other extreme right-wing terrorists.”

Medlock watched his sentencing hearing over a videolink from a medical facility, with a health care worker sitting alongside him.

He pleaded guilty in 2021 to four other offences related to the same incident: possession of the knife, battery, and two counts of racially aggravated causing harassment, alarm, or distress.

Evening Standard