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Neo-Nazi jailed for planning terror attacks against Muslims

Neo-Nazi jailed for planning terror attacks against Muslims

Categories: Latest News

Friday April 13 2018

Mr Connor Ward has been convicted for life for planning terror attacks against mosques by the High Court in Glasgow today, 12th of April 2018.

The police had found a number of weapons at Mr Ward’s house that were capable of committing serious injury to a large number of people.

These included: ball bearings, that can be used in pipe bombs; rocket tubes, capable of firing projectiles; a stun gun; knuckle dusters; knives; and deactivated bullets.

They also found he had downloaded thousands of far-right propaganda on the internet, documents on military strategies and firearms.

Moreover, Mr Ward had begun to write a book titled: ‘Combat 18 British Mosque Address Book’.

Combat 18 has been described as an “extreme far-right group” and “fundamentally neo-nazi” with its “principles based on fascism” by an ex-member. The “18” is a reference to Hitler as the first and eighth letter of the alphabet are Hitler’s initials.

Mr Ward had written in the book that “[t]his book is dedicated to all that follow Mohammed and the Islamic faith. You will all soon suffer your demise”.

A map detailing the addresses of five mosques in Aberdeen was found on Mr Ward’s computer.

Mr Ward claimed that he was afflicted with mental health illnesses at the time and said that he truly believed the year 2012 would be the end of the world and he was attempting to prepare for it.

The jurors refused to believe him and he was convicted of charges under the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Terrorism Act 2006.

The High Court judge, Lord Burns, said: “The jury’s view was that you formed an intention to attack a mosque or mosques in Aberdeen and would have acted alone. You had reached the stage of identifying your targets and expressed threats against Muslims”.

Lord Burns added: “You had reached the stage of buying materials and you planned to cause serious injury at the least. Your obsession with weapons and explosives and your extreme right-wing attitudes presents serious risk to the public”.

Mr Gerry McLean, Detective Chief Superintendent and Head of Police Scotland’s Organised Crime and Counter-Terrorism Unit, said: “Following Ward’s arrest a vast amount of material was seized by officers who invested a significant amount of time into quantifying the scale of Ward’s interest in terrorism…Although he operated alone, the weapons, manuals and downloads he possessed had the potential to cause serious harm”.

Mr McLean added: “While we may never know the full extent of Ward’s intentions thanks to the early intervention of police, we do know that we cannot underestimate the dangerous nature of any behaviour or activity linked to terrorism”.

Mr Ward has to serve a minimum period of six years before he is eligible for parole.

This is not the first time Mr Ward has been convicted of serious offences.

In 2012, he was charged under the 1883 Explosive Substances Act for attempting to develop bomb. In 2015, he was convicted for the illegal possession of a stun gun. In 2016, he was convicted for constructing an “improvised” knife whilst in jail.

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