Tag Archives: Terrorism related.

Tobias Ruth has previous convictions for racially-motivated graffiti attacks

A Torquay man who once plotted a nationwide hate campaign could be sent back to prison after being found with a prohibited weapon.

Tobias Ruth, 23, has become obsessed with knives and weapons, Exeter Crown Court was told.

He admitted two weapon-related offences when he appeared at the court for a short hearing.

The court was told he had adapted a fly swat into a stun gun and had a .22 air rifle.

Mr Kevin Hopper, defending, said Ruth had become ‘somewhat obsessed’ with collecting knives and weapon paraphernalia.

But he said the weapons had not been used in any crime and the electric fly swat did not work.

“He had no intention of using it on anyone,” said Mr Hopper

The defendant, formerly of Walnut Road but appearing via video link from custody, pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon on August 7 and possessing a firearm when prohibited.

Judge David Evans said he wanted Ruth to speak to the probation service before sentencing him.

He said all options, including immediate imprisonment, would be considered.

He adjourned sentence to October 25.

Ruth was just 18 when he and a friend carried out a campaign of racist vandalism in Torquay in 2012.

They styled themselves as Knights Templar and studied the crimes of Norweigian mass murderer Anders Breivik.

Their arrest led to houses being evacuated and roads cordoned off.

Ruth admitted conspiracy to send malicious messages and conspiracy to cause criminal damage. He was jailed for 33 months.

The judge at the time said the communications were intended to cause the fear of racial violence and plainly had a racial element.

Devon Live

You can read about his 2012 conviction here

Devon drug addict with bomb under bed jailed

By virginiagolden

September 17, 2018

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Stephen Bracher had been working on 17 other devices, police said

A man found with a 9kg (20lb) fertiliser bomb under his bed has been jailed for 40 months.

Unemployed amphetamine addict Stephen Bracher, 55, had been working on 17 other devices when he was arrested in January, Exeter Crown Court heard.

Bracher admitted three counts of having explosive substances, one of possessing a lock knife and one of possessing amphetamines.

Police found jottings which indicated extreme hatred of black and gay people.

In some he expressed intentions of killing people, the court heard.

Bracher’s house was “full of weaponry” including machetes and knives

Royal Navy explosives experts removed the explosives from his home in Bishops Tawton, near Barnstaple, after the raid on 24 January.

The property was also “full of weaponry” including machetes and knives, police said.

The ammonia sulphate fertiliser bomb, when exploded under controlled conditions, left a large hole in the ground.

Police said fertiliser bomb and the other devices could have caused “extensive damage”.

Det Insp Phil Gray said: “He had disassociated himself from society.

“He enjoyed making his own explosives to see how loudly he could get them to go bang.”

Bracher told police the explosives were fireworks.

Neighbours and friends of Bracher spoke of an unemployed loner who spent hours with a metal detector by the nearby River Taw.

There he would search for finds which he would take to Barnstaple Museum.

He had a “genuine” interest in local history and was not in it for money, said one museum worker.

Bracher was the eldest of three children and lived in the area all his life, said friend Mike Davis, who has known him since they were teenagers.

Last year Bracher’s builder brother Alan died, which had affected him “severely”, said Mr Davis.

Mr Davis said: “He was a very reasonable person, no trouble maker.

“He didn’t want to do damage to anyone – he’s not a terrorist kind of person, he wouldn’t harm anyone.”

The almshouses where Bracher lived are reserved for people aged over 45 with local connections.

Neighbour Glyn Seal said it was a “big surprise” when the almshouses, with their manicured lawns and clipped hedges, were raided and Bracher was arrested.

“It’s a quiet community and the people in the almshouses are very quiet,” he said. “You never hear anything from them.”

BBC News

Thug left nail bomb outside home of neighbour ‘who accused his girlfriend of running brothel’

By virginiagolden

August 21, 2018

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David Pirie, 27, packed an explosive with petrol, nails and pieces of concrete and left it outside the home of Alexander McCluckie

David Pirie (pictured), 27, left the explosive device outside the window of terrified Alexander McCluckie

A thug who left a nail bomb outside his neighbour’s home in a row over claims his girlfriend was running a brothel has walked free from court.

David Pirie, 27, left the explosive device packed with petrol, nails and pieces of concrete outside the home of terrified Alexander McCluckie.

Mr McCluckie stayed next door to Pirie’s girlfriend Louise Stewart in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, but relations soured when she made a malicious call to the SSPCA about Mr McCluckie’s dog.

Months later police arrested Miss Stewart after they were told she was operating a brothel but she was released without charge.

Pirie suspected Mr McCluckie had called police and smashed his front window and left a glass bottle, which had a strong smell of fuel coming from it, and a lighter outside.

Pirie was arrested and his DNA was discovered on the bottle.

But days before he was due in court, he fled to Tenerife for almost a year before returning to Scotland.

Pirie, of Bailleston, Glasgow, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court and admitted leaving the makeshift bomb at the flat in August 2015 and failing to appear in court in June 2017.

He was spared jail by Sheriff Shiona Waldron and told to perform 150 hours of unpaid work.

Depute fiscal Vish Kathuria said: “The complainer looked out of his window and observed the brick but also observed a glass bottle which contained fluid, nails and a bag protruding from it and noted a lighter next to it.

“He formed the view that what had been left was a petrol bomb and he could also smell fuel coming from the bottle and contacted police.

“The bottle was later dismantled and found to contain nails, fragments of concrete and fluid which was later found to be petrol.

“The accused’s partner was later interviewed and was asked what she knew about the bomb and replied ‘I didn’t know he had actually done it, he told me about it and I was like that is a bit far’.

“The bomb was analysed forensically and DNA from the accused was found on the top of the bottle.

Brazen Pirie used social media to boast of his carefree lifestyle in Tenerife and shared dozens of snaps showing him partying with groups of friends who seem unaware he was avoiding justice back home.

In one photo, he is seen posing with boxers Carl Frampton and Steven Ward as they enjoyed a break away from the ring.

Others show him holding a bottle of Buckfast, playing mini-golf and relaxing on the beach in the sunshine.

Sheriff Waldron said: “You have no previous convictions and this was an extremely foolish incident made much worse by your failure to appear when you were supposed to.

“You have already spent a considerable time in custody relating to that matter and you will be admonished.

“In relation to you acting in a threatening manner by placing an amateur pseudo petrol bomb which fortunately did not do any harm to anyone, you will carry out unpaid work as a direct alternative to custody.”

Daily Mirror

Jailed for six years – the far-right supporter who set fire to buildings and daubed swastikas and racist slogans across the city

By virginiagolden

August 21, 2018

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A FAR-right supporter who set fire to Newport’s Masonic Lodge and Bassaleg secondary school, and daubed swastikas and racist slogans on buildings across the city, has been jailed for a total of six years.

Austin Ross, 23, carried out the two arson attacks and his spree of hate-fuelled criminal damage during May this year.

The Riverfront Theatre, Maindee primary school, Gwent Probation Service’s Lower Dock Street offices, and the Bethel Community Church were among his other targets.

Ross, of Romney Close, St Julians, Newport, carried out the attacks, said Judge Jeremy Jenkins, “out of sheer hatred and malice”, based on a “perverted view of race and religion”.

Ross pleaded guilty last month to 15 charges, including two of arson.

He began by sticking a racially offensive poster,, and spray painting a swastika, on a window at the Riverfront Theatre in Newport, between May 2 and May 5.

The poster, along with several others Ross subsequently stuck to buildings in Newport, referenced the neo-Nazi System Resistance Network (SRN).

On May 4, the Bethel Community Church was targeted with posters and swastikas, as was Maindee primary school, where parents removed posters and handed them in to the school.

The school was targeted again on May 8 and May 25, but Ross had in the interim stuck posters and daubed swastikas on a wall at the Newport Centre.

Between May 25-30 he targeted the Gwent Probation Service building on Lower Dock Street with a spray painted far right message.

And on May 28, racist graffiti and a swastika were daubed on a wall at the University of South Wales campus on Usk Way.

Ross’ criminal activities then took an even more sinister turn.

On the night of May 28 he posted a flammable liquid through the letterbox at the Masonic Lodge in Lower Dock Street and set fire to it – an act caught on CCTV – causing £38,000 of damage.

And on the same night he caused around £20,000 of damage to a classroom at Bassaleg School after setting fire to a window blind.

Both buildings were also daubed with racist graffiti.

Police issued CCTV images of a man clad in black clothing, to try to track down the perpetrator.

Acting on a tip-off, they arrested Ross at an address in Grosvenor Road, Bassaleg, on June 5.

The Bassaleg and the Romney Close addresses were searched, and items found included cardboard swastika stencils and neo-Nazi posters.

Defence counsel Harry Baker said several references submitted on behalf of Ross showed “a different side” to him.

But sentencing him, Judge Jenkins was scathing of Ross’ crimes.

“You daubed swastikas and other highly offensive literature on schools, a church, a theatre, a footbridge and other buildings,” he said.

“You deliberately set fire to the Masonic Lodge and Bassaleg secondary school.

“Your actions were not born of some mental disorder, but out of hatred and malice based upon your perverted view of race and religion, and others dissimilar to yourself.

“That, in a civilised society is as abhorrent as it is impossible to comprehend.”

Ross was sentenced to three years in prison on each arson charge, to run consecutively.

He was also sentenced to six months on each of 13 charges of racially aggravated criminal damage. These will run concurrently to the arson sentences.

Speaking after the senetencing hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Nicholas Wilkie, of Gwent Police, said: “The offences committed by Ross in Newport in May of this year were very serious, and understandably resulted in concern and distress throughout our community.

“There is no place for hate crime in Gwent, and we will continue to take a zero tolerance approach to this type of offending.

“We are committed to ensuring our neighbourhoods are welcoming and safe places for everyone, and any crime motivated by racial, sexual, or any other prejudice, will be investigated thoroughly and any offender dealt with robustly.

“We would encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed an incident or crime that they perceive to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, to report to us directly on 101 or 999, online at http://www.report-it.org or through Victim Support on 0300 30 31 982.”

Cerys Beresford-Evans of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Ross spread his racist messages around Newport by causing damage and destruction to buildings.

“Hate crime has no place in a civilised society and has a devastating impact on not only individuals, but on communities.

“The CPS will continue to work with our partners in the criminal justice system to address all forms of hate crime.”

South Wales Argus

Sentencing of Peter Morgan for terrorism offences in Edinburgh

By virginiagolden

August 16, 2018

Uncategorized

Peter Morgan had denied the charges

A man found in possession of explosive items and extreme right-wing paraphernalia at a flat in Edinburgh has been today (Thursday 16th August 2018) been jailed.

At Edinburgh High Court on Friday 13th July 2018, Peter Morgan was found guilty of two offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 and one offence under the Explosive Substances Act 1883.

Officers were conducting enquiries into the death of a teenage woman, who was found unconscious within a stairwell at a block of flats in Taylor Place in July 2017, when Morgan’s offences were discovered.

As part of officers’ enquiries into the full circumstances surrounding her death, entry was forced to the 35-year-old’s property.

During the search of the flat, officers became aware of extremist material and Police Scotland’s Organised Crime & Counter Terrorism Unit (OCCTU) were immediately called in to investigate, supported by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal.

A number of items, which could be used to construct an explosive device, were seized along with phones and computer equipment.

Following analysis of these, it was established that Morgan had been researching racist content and information on constructing explosives online.

Morgan was arrested and has been remanded in custody since this time. At Edinburgh High Court, he has now been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Detective Inspector Jackie Gilfillan from OCCTU said: “The sentence handed to Morgan reflects the serious nature of his crimes and the commitment of both Police Scotland and the Crown Office to removing extremist threats.

“While Morgan had not created any viable devices within his home, the intent to construct an object that could cause serious harm and fear within our communities was clear.

“The national Action Counters Terrorism (ACT) campaign recognises the important role the public have to play in preventing terrorism and, whenever such individuals come to our attention, a thorough investigation will be undertaken to bring them to justice.

“While on this occasion we were able to prevent any danger to the public, I’d encourage anyone with concerns about a person viewing extremist or terrorist material to report this to Police Scotland on 101 or to the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.”

Police Scotland

Right-wing extremist caught with bomb-making kit jailed

By virginiagolden

August 16, 2018

Uncategorized

Morgan was photographed at a white pride rally in Manchester in 2015

A right-wing extremist caught with a bomb-making kit in his Edinburgh flat has been sentenced to 12 years in jail.

Explosive powder, fuses and a glass bottle studded with lead shot were found when police raided Peter Morgan’s home in Meadowbank last July.

During his trial a bomb disposal expert told the court the material could have been turned into an explosive device capable of causing horrific injuries.

A Nazi flag, far-right literature and terrorist training manuals were found.

Judge Lord Boyd told the 35-year-old the charges he had been convicted of threatened “the safety of the public, our values as a democracy and strike at the dignity and respect which all members of our community are entitled to expect whatever their race or religion”.

He will spend a further three years under supervision at the end of his 12-year sentence.

Lord Boyd told Morgan at the High Court in Edinburgh: “You have been convicted of two charges under the Terrorism Act and one charge under the Explosives Substances Act 1883.

“You assert your right to freedom of speech. However abhorrent some may find your views, you are entitled to hold them.

“What you are not entitled to do is to act on these views for the purpose of committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

“Of most concern is that you not only possessed the ingredients for the making of an improvised explosive device but you had begun to assemble it.”

The judge said it was clear the jury at Morgan’s earlier trial had rejected his claim during his evidence that he only planned to blow up a frozen turkey and film it for YouTube.

Lord Boyd pointed out that while Morgan had told a social worker who prepared a background report that he would never collect such material again, he did not disavow his political views.

Police also discovered that Morgan had downloaded an international application form to become “a loyal white knight of the Ku Klux Klan”.

He had amassed a collection of neo-Nazi, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic and racist material at his home.

Peter Morgan had denied the charges

Morgan’s trial heard that he was “quite proud” to be part of the Scottish Defence League and travelled with others from the far right group to attend a white pride rally in Manchester in 2015.

He was photographed at the march with his hood up carrying a Scottish saltire flag and holding a “white pride worldwide” poster.

Morgan had earlier denied committing offences under the Terrorism Act and Explosives Substances Act but was found guilty of three offences.

Between April 2012 and July last year at his flat in Taylor Place, in Edinburgh, he possessed items which gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that it was for a purpose “connected with the commission, preparation of instigation of an act of terrorism”.

The court heard emergency services originally attended at the block of flats where he lived on 2 July 2017 after a young woman collapsed and was found to have no pulse.

A resident said that she previously saw the woman at Morgan’s flat and police decided to force entry because of concern for others.

No one was in the flat at the time but officers noted drugs paraphernalia such as needles and scales and the premises were secured. Morgan was later seen nearby.

A large quantity of commercial fireworks were found, some of which had been taken apart.

A dagger bearing the symbol of an eagle mounted on a swastika was recovered under a sofa in the living room.

Defence solicitor advocate Brian Gilfedder said Morgan had an “atrocious” upbringing, had spent time in care homes and foster placements and began abusing drugs at the age of 11.

He told the court: “He is not shy about the political and social views that he said he legitimately holds.”

Fuses were among the things found in Morgan’s possessions

BBC News

Northallerton ‘Columbine-style’ school plot teenagers sentenced

By virginiagolden

July 20, 2018

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Contents of a rucksack found by officers searching the older boy’s hideout in Catterick Garrison. Picture: NORTH EAST CTU

THE two schoolboys given substantial custodial sentences for plotting a Columbine-inspired attack at a school in Northallerton can be named as Thomas Wyllie and Alex Bolland.

Reporting restrictions were lifted at Leeds Crown Court after the boys were sentenced.

Wyllie was given 12 years custody, while Bolland received ten years.

The boys, who were 14 when they put together the plot, sat motionless in the dock as they were told the lengths of their sentences.

During their trial, prosecutors claimed that the pair had “hero-worshipped” Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the teenagers responsible for murdering 13 people at Columbine High School, Colorado, in 1999.

In the police interviews that followed their arrests in October 2017, both boys attempted to claim that the plan was nothing more than a fantasy, but in May jurors at Leeds Crown Court convicted them of conspiracy to murder.

The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, told the pair that their plan “was not wishful thinking or fantasy, it was a real plot”.

She said: “You are both 15-years-old and you were only 14 last year when you planned to murder teachers and pupils at your school in North Yorkshire by shooting them in a re-enactment of the Columbine massacre.

The judge added that it was a “firm plan with specific targets in mind as well as a plan to make indiscriminate explosives”.

She concluded her remarks by saying that the boys had intended to cause “terror on the scale of the school shootings that have been seen in America”.

The judge lifted the reporting restriction on naming the two teenagers after representations from the media.

Both the prosecution and the defence argued the restriction should remain on the basis that naming the boys would harm their rehabilitation.

But the judge said the need for open justice outweighed this consideration.

She said the restriction would remain banning the identification of any other witness under the age of 18 and also on naming the school involved.
Northern Echo

Mexborough teenager sentenced after downloading bomb-making instructions and extreme right-wing propaganda

By virginiagolden

July 19, 2018

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Jack Coulson has been detained in a young offender institution after committing a terror offence (Image: South Yorkshire Police

A teenager from Mexborough has been sentenced to more than four and a half years behind bars after downloading instructions on how to make bombs and extreme right-wing propaganda.

Jack Coulson, aged 19, of Roman Gardens, pleaded guilty to possessing a document or record for terrorist purposes at Leeds Crown Court on Monday, July 16.

The charge followed his arrest in January this year as part of an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North East and South Yorkshire Police.

An examination of Coulson’s mobile phone revealed he’d downloaded information on how to obtain and mix explosives and how to manufacture pipe bombs and other explosive devices.

It uncovered a wide range of extreme right wing material and propaganda, including racist and anti-Semitic imagery.

His search history also indicated an interest in National Action, Nazism and White Jihad.

Detective Superintendent Simon Atkinson of Counter Terrorism Policing North East said: “Jack Coulson was in possession of disturbing and potentially dangerous material, which indicated an extreme right wing mind set and an interest in home-made explosives.

“He hadn’t come across this material by chance, but had actively searched for it and downloaded it. While no evidence was found to suggest Coulson was planning to act on this information, the combination of this material and his ideology is very concerning.

“This case also highlights the dangers of material that is readily available on the Internet, material that could be misused, or used for a terrorist purpose. Searching for and storing information of this nature has the potential to put the safety of others at risk will not go unprosecuted. In the wrong hands it could have serious consequences.”

Sheffield Star

Nazi-obsessed teenager who kept DIY bomb-making manual locked up for four years after admitting terror offence

By virginiagolden

July 19, 2018

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Jack Coulson, 19, admitted to possessing a document or record for terrorist purposes between January 4 and January 19 this year, namely The Big Book Of Mischief

Jack Coulson, 19, admitted to possessing a document or record for terrorist purposes between January 4 and January 19 this year, namely The Big Book Of Mischief

A Nazi-obsessed teenager who kept a DIY bomb-making manual has been locked up for four years and eight months.

Jack Coulson, 19, admitted to possessing a document or record for terrorist purposes between January 4 and January 19 this year, namely The Big Book Of Mischief.

Prosecutors allege he downloaded the manual shortly after boasting to people in an approved hostel about wanting to kill a female MP, an incident which led to a police interview but no further charge.

Coulson, who has a previous conviction for making a pipe bomb found in his Nazi memorabilia-filled bedroom, claimed Hitler was his “hero,” a court heard.

Leeds Crown Court heard how the 60-page manual, downloaded to the defendant’s phone, seeks to “demonstrate the techniques and methods used in a number of countries to make hazardous devices”.

It was also claimed the document provides information on the chemicals needed to build weapons, as well as practical advice on detonators, handguns and rockets.

Further searches of his phone uncovered references to proscribed right-wing group National Action.

They also found audio recordings of people screaming in the aftermath of gunshots and internet searches for Timothy McVeigh, the American terrorist who carried out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing which led to the deaths of 168 people.

Coulson, from Mexborough, South Yorkshire, was handed his sentence at Leeds Crown Court today, which he will serve in a young offenders institution.

David Temkin, prosecuting, claimed the teenager continues to hold “an active interest in far-right political views and violence”, and had a note in his house which read: “They are not going to cure me of my views.”

Mr Temkin added that, during a police interview, Coulson had described Adolf Hitler as his “leader” and said he identified as a “National Socialist”.

Jack Coulson has been detained in a young offender institution after committing a terror offence (Image: South Yorkshire Police

Coulson was also found guilty last year of making an explosive device but avoided being locked up.

Instead he was given a three year youth rehabilitation order- which was revoked today – and banned from using the internet.

At his first trial in February 2017, the teenager was said to hold “perverted views” and celebrated the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.

Jurors were told how a pipe bomb was found in a desk drawer in his Swastika covered bedroom on July 26 after police were alerted through suspicious Snapchat messages.

Prosecutors said one of these messages was a cartoon-like image of a mosque being blown up along with the words: “It’s time to enact retribution upon the Muslim filth.”

The teen told the court he had no intention of using the device which contained 19 grammes of explosive material he had gathered from sparklers.

An examination of Coulson’s mobile phone revealed he’d downloaded information on how to obtain and mix explosives and how to manufacture pipe bombs and other explosive devices.

It uncovered a wide range of extreme right wing material and propaganda, including racist and anti-Semitic imagery.

His search history also indicated an interest in National Action, Nazism and White Jihad, counter terrorism police said.

At Leeds Crown Court on Monday he was remanded in custody for the latest offence until his sentence hearing today.

Sentencing Coulson to four years and eight months in a young offenders institution, Judge Marson QC told the teenager on Thursday: “Time and time again you were a given a chance in relation to the previous offence.

“Help was repeatedly given, but you continued to breach the order that was given to you.

“You are unable to address the very real problems which you have in relation to your right-wing views.”

Discussing the teenager’s “extreme social isolation”, Kate O’Raghallaigh, defending, said: “His belief system and expressed opinions, unpalatable as they are, bear no relevance to the sentence that Your Honour should pass.”

She added there was no evidence that the defendant accessed the manual more than once or that he was intending to carry out any further offences.

Photo issued by North East CTU of Nazi memorabilia in the bedroom of teenager Jack Coulson

Coulson was not named in reports of his pipe-bomb trial in early 2017 after the court banned his identification because he was 17 at the time.

The judge in that trial, Mr Justice Goss, said Coulson’s “perverted” views led to him proclaiming Thomas Mair, the man who murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, to be a hero.

Following the sentencing on Thursday, Detective Superintendent Simon Atkinson, Head of Investigations at Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “Jack Coulson was in possession of disturbing and potentially dangerous material, which indicated an extreme right wing mind set and an interest in home-made explosives.

“He hadn’t come across this material by chance, but had actively searched for it and downloaded it.

“While no evidence was found to suggest Coulson was planning to act on this information, the combination of this material and his ideology is very concerning.”

He added: “This case also highlights the dangers of material that is readily available on the Internet, material that could be misused, or used for a terrorist purpose.

“Searching for and storing information of this nature has the potential to put the safety of others at risk (and) will not go unprosecuted. In the wrong hands it could have serious consequences.”

“While no evidence was found to suggest Coulson was planning to act on this information, the combination of this material and his ideology is very concerning.”

He added: “This case also highlights the dangers of material that is readily available on the Internet, material that could be misused, or used for a terrorist purpose.

“Searching for and storing information of this nature has the potential to put the safety of others at risk (and) will not go unprosecuted. In the wrong hands it could have serious consequences.”

Daily Mirror

National Action: Men jailed for being members of banned neo-Nazi group

By virginiagolden

July 18, 2018

Uncategorized

Lythgoe

Two men have been found guilty of being members of banned neo-Nazi group National Action.

Christopher Lythgoe, 32, of Warrington, and Matthew Hankinson, 24, of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, were convicted after a trial lasting over five weeks.

Lythgoe was jailed for eight years and Hankinson for six.

Earlier in the trial, another man, Jack Renshaw, 23, of Skelmersdale, Lancs, admitted preparing an act of terrorism after buying a machete.

He admitted buying it for the purpose of murdering West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper.

A former National Action member, Robbie Mullen, warned the anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate of Renshaw’s plan, and they went to the police.

A total of six men were on trial at the Old Bailey, accused of being members of National Action.

Hankinson

‘Perverted ideology’

Lythgoe, the National Action leader, was found not guilty of encouragement to murder for allegedly giving Renshaw permission to kill Ms Cooper on behalf of the group.

Renshaw also admitted threatening to kill Det Con Victoria Henderson, who was investigating him for other matters.

Mr Justice Jay said group meetings after the ban were attempting to keeping alive an aspiration which was “truly insidious and evil: the idea that this country should be purged of its ethnic minorities and its Jews; that the rule of law should be subverted; and that once the ideological revolution had taken place this national socialist world view would triumph”.

Sentencing Lythgoe, he said: “You are a fully-fledged neo-Nazi replete with concomitant deep-seated, entrenched racism and anti-Semitism.”

The judge told Hankinson: “You too are a neo-Nazi who glorifies and revels in a perverted ideology, has a deep hatred of ethnic minorities and Jews and has advocated violence to achieve your objectives.”

Racial hatred conviction

Jurors were unable to decide either whether Renshaw had remained a member of National Action after it was banned, or whether two other men – Michal Trubini, 35, from Warrington and Andrew Clarke, 33, from Prescot, Merseyside – were guilty of the same charge.

Another defendant – Garron Helm, 24, from Seaforth in Merseyside – was found not guilty of being a member of the group.

It can also now be reported that Renshaw was convicted earlier this year of two counts of stirring up racial hatred in speeches he made in 2016.

National Action, which was founded in 2013, was the first extreme right-wing group to be banned in the UK.

It was proscribed in December 2016 after it was assessed as being “concerned in terrorism”.

Earlier that year, the group had celebrated the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a white supremacist, which the government said amounted to the unlawful glorification of terrorism.

BBC News