(Metropolitain Police/PA Wire)
Neil Lewington
A neo-Nazi who was about to launch a racist terror campaign on the streets of Britain was today jailed indefinitely.
Neil Lewington, 44, wanted to emulate his far-right heroes, Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh and Soho nail bomber David Copeland.
The unemployed electrician, of Tilehurst, Berkshire, kept video compilations about their murderous attacks at his home.
He planned to ignite racial violence by bombing “non-British” people.
Lewington was arrested in October after causing a disturbance on a train travelling to Lowestoft, Suffolk. His holdall was found to contain components for two incendiary devices, including digital clocks, batteries, wiring, firelighters and ignition mechanisms. There were also tools to complete assembly of the firebombs. In his wallet were notes headed “device 1” and “device 2” with lists marked: “date”, “place”, “target”, “weather”, “device used: solid fuel incendiary”, “delay” and “detonated?”.
A search of his bedroom revealed chemical mixtures labelled “igniter”, weedkiller, firelighters, fuses, pyrotechnic boosters and books entitled Homemade Ammo: How to Make It, How to Reload It, How to Cache It and The Do-It-Yourself Gunpowder Cookbook. There were tennis balls with diagrams of how they might be turned into shrapnel bombs.
Police also found a notebook labelled “Waffen SS UK Members’ Handbook” in which were writings and diagrams under the headings “picking target areas”, “transporting devices”, “targeting/attacking parts” and “counter-surveillance”.
Brian Altman, QC, for the prosecution, said: “This man, who had strong if not fanatical right-wing leanings and opinions, was on the cusp of embarking on a campaign of terrorism against those he considered non-British.”
Despite being a loner, Lewington arranged to meet women on the internet. One said he spoke about the National Front and Ku Klux Klan. He told another that “the only good Paki is a dead Paki”.
Defence lawyers portrayed Lewington as a “silly, immature, alcoholic, dysfunctional twit” but, after three days’ deliberating, the jury convicted him of seven charges including preparing acts of terrorism.
Source