White supremacist 'planned a race hate terrorism campaign', court hears
A white supremacist who was arrested by chance for smoking on a train had two homemade bombs stashed in a holdall and was on the verge of a race hate terrorism campaign, a court has heard.
By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent
29 Jun 2009
Daily Telegraph online
Neil Lewington, 43, idolised David Copeland, the London nail bomber and Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber, and aimed to target "those he considered non-British", jurors at the Old Bailey were told.
He spoke of converting tennis balls into shrapnel bombs and police found two handwritten notes inside his wallet, headed "date, place, target", jurors heard. He allegedly told police officers that detained him that "I'm Bin Laden".
Detectives found he had turned the bedroom of the house that he lived in with his parents in Reading, Berks, into a bomb factory containing canisters of weedkiller, timers and other components.
Searches also revealed a notebook entitled "Waffen SS UK members' handbook" with drawings of electronics and chemical mixtures.
Brian Altman, QC, prosecuting, said: "The effect of these findings is to prove that this man who had strong if not fanatical Right-wing leanings and opinions was on the cusp of embarking on a campaign of terror against those he regarded as being not British."
Police uncovered the alleged threat that Mr Lewington posed by chance last October as he travelled to Lowestoft, Suffolk, for a date with a woman he had met on the internet. He was smoking and being abusive on a train and was arrested at Lowestoft for the public order offences, including urinating at the station.
At the police station, inside a blue holdall, officers found the components to two "viable improvised incendiary devices" and handwritten notebooks detailing electronics and chemical mixtures to make bombs, it is alleged.
Mr Altman said: "He had the parts which, if assembled together, would have created devices which if ignited would have caught alight and caused flames and fire.
"Later searches of the house where the defendant lived with his parents in Reading, in particular his own bedroom, revealed nothing short of a factory for the production of many such similar devices.
"In addition to all of that the police discovered evidence that the defendant sympathised with and quite clearly adhered to white supremacist and racist views."
Mr Lewington lived the existence of a "loner", his parents told police, and had not spoken to his father for 10 years.
He left school at 16 without qualifications but had worked in a number of electronics jobs. He had been unemployed for 10 years after being sacked from his last job for being drunk.
Mr Lewington had two video compilations of news and documentary footage about bombers and bombings both in Britain and the US, the court heard.
These included the Mardi Gras bomber, who targeted Barclays Bank and Sainsbury's, as well as Copeland and McVeigh.
Lewington had made a number of girlfriends he met over mobile phone chatlines, calling himself Aristocrat or Amadeus.
Mr Altman said he had made racist remarks and spoke to some of converting tennis balls into bombs.
One woman was put off by him when he said "the only good Paki was a dead Paki" and said he was a member of the National Front and wanted the Ku Klux Klan brought back, it was alleged.
To other girlfriends he also spoke of making tennis balls converted into shrapnel bombs which he said he had exploded in the woods. After his arrest he asked to make a call to the woman he was meant to be meeting in Suffolk.
When he was refused he said: "She's Mrs Bin Laden the terrorist and my name's Bin Laden."
He told another detention officer that the devices in his bag were for a fireworks weekend.
"I'm Bin Laden. I just wanted a pyrotechnic weekend with my girlfriend," he allegedly said.
Mr Lewington denies eight charges, including preparing for terrorism by having the bomb parts in a public place, having articles and documents for terrorism and possessing an explosive device "with intent to endanger life".
The trial continues.
29 Jun 2009
Daily Telegraph online
He spoke of converting tennis balls into shrapnel bombs and police found two handwritten notes inside his wallet, headed "date, place, target", jurors heard. He allegedly told police officers that detained him that "I'm Bin Laden".
Searches also revealed a notebook entitled "Waffen SS UK members' handbook" with drawings of electronics and chemical mixtures.
Brian Altman, QC, prosecuting, said: "The effect of these findings is to prove that this man who had strong if not fanatical Right-wing leanings and opinions was on the cusp of embarking on a campaign of terror against those he regarded as being not British."
Police uncovered the alleged threat that Mr Lewington posed by chance last October as he travelled to Lowestoft, Suffolk, for a date with a woman he had met on the internet. He was smoking and being abusive on a train and was arrested at Lowestoft for the public order offences, including urinating at the station.
At the police station, inside a blue holdall, officers found the components to two "viable improvised incendiary devices" and handwritten notebooks detailing electronics and chemical mixtures to make bombs, it is alleged.
Mr Altman said: "He had the parts which, if assembled together, would have created devices which if ignited would have caught alight and caused flames and fire.
"Later searches of the house where the defendant lived with his parents in Reading, in particular his own bedroom, revealed nothing short of a factory for the production of many such similar devices.
"In addition to all of that the police discovered evidence that the defendant sympathised with and quite clearly adhered to white supremacist and racist views."
Mr Lewington lived the existence of a "loner", his parents told police, and had not spoken to his father for 10 years.
He left school at 16 without qualifications but had worked in a number of electronics jobs. He had been unemployed for 10 years after being sacked from his last job for being drunk.
Mr Lewington had two video compilations of news and documentary footage about bombers and bombings both in Britain and the US, the court heard.
These included the Mardi Gras bomber, who targeted Barclays Bank and Sainsbury's, as well as Copeland and McVeigh.
Lewington had made a number of girlfriends he met over mobile phone chatlines, calling himself Aristocrat or Amadeus.
Mr Altman said he had made racist remarks and spoke to some of converting tennis balls into bombs.
One woman was put off by him when he said "the only good Paki was a dead Paki" and said he was a member of the National Front and wanted the Ku Klux Klan brought back, it was alleged.
To other girlfriends he also spoke of making tennis balls converted into shrapnel bombs which he said he had exploded in the woods. After his arrest he asked to make a call to the woman he was meant to be meeting in Suffolk.
When he was refused he said: "She's Mrs Bin Laden the terrorist and my name's Bin Laden."
He told another detention officer that the devices in his bag were for a fireworks weekend.
"I'm Bin Laden. I just wanted a pyrotechnic weekend with my girlfriend," he allegedly said.
Mr Lewington denies eight charges, including preparing for terrorism by having the bomb parts in a public place, having articles and documents for terrorism and possessing an explosive device "with intent to endanger life".
The trial continues.
No comments:
Post a Comment