Neo-Nazi jailed for race-hate campaign

A "DANGEROUS" neo-Nazi who waged a racist campaign against a couple because they were mixed race has been sentenced to seven years in jail.

Nathan Worrell, 35, who signed his texts with "88" – a coded reference to Heil Hitler, as each word begins with the eighth letter of the alphabet – was found guilty at Grimsby Crown Court of possessing material for terrorist purposes and racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress.

Books and manuals containing "recipes" to make bombs and detonators using household items such as weedkiller, lighter fluid and sugar were found during a police raid at his flat.

Also found were numerous boxes of matches, 171 match heads, two tubs of weedkiller and three bottles of lighter fluid. A video by far-right group Combat 18 – also a coded reference to Adolf Hitler – showed how to prepare and make a bomb from household items.

Prosecutors said that unemployed Worrell, a member of the Ku Klux Klan and the British People's Party, was behind a campaign putting racist stickers on the gate and a nearby lamppost at the couple's home.

They bore offensive comments about mixed-race relationships and repatriation and police found piles of the stickers at Worrell's home.

Worrell, of Grimsby, who left Havelock Upper School aged 16, and has had no long-term employment since then, was described by police as "a dangerous individual who harbours extreme anti-Semitic views."

Det Chief Supt David Buxton from the Counter Terrorism Unit in Leeds said: "Literature found at his flat exposed his interest in creating explosives and even more concerning a number of items were recovered that could have been used to create these devices. We are thankful for his early arrest that has stopped Worrell from taking his interest further.

"Worrell's racial intolerance and his hatred for religion are more than obvious. Worrell showed he had the ability and readiness to use threats and intimidation to promote his beliefs and, because of this, his actions became of a terrorist nature.

"It is to my sadness that one family in particular have suffered at the hands of these extreme beliefs and the unforgivable actions of this man.

"No-one should be made to feel like an outsider in their own community because of their race or religion. I wish to thank them for their bravery during this investigation during what has been an extremely difficult time for them.

"Worrell had already crossed a line and was demonstrating the potential to move towards even more dangerous actions. Today's verdict and sentence recognises this and sends out a clear message that terrorism in any form will not be tolerated."

Worrell was arrested in January after police raided his flat looking for race-hate material. He denied the charges, but admitted in custody he occasionally "stickered" on his estate as there was no-one else in the area who was "like-minded". He claimed they were not aimed at anyone in particular.

Yorkshire Post