Neo-Nazi with home-made ‘arsenal’ jailed for 10 years

A neo-Nazi who stockpiled “weapons” at his home in Falkirk has been jailed for 10 years.

Alan Edwards, 55, who had about 28,000 followers on social media, had discussed the attack at a local LGBT group.

He denied all crimes, but a jury found him guilty of charges under the Terrorism Act, racism, anti-Semitism, genocide denial and disturbing the peace.

Edwards will also be under surveillance for five years after his release, and for 30 years under the terms of the Terrorism Act.

Judge Fiona Tait told Edward: “The author of the risk assessment on you assesses that you are at high risk of re-offending.

“There is no appropriate alternative to a prison sentence for such serious crimes.

“It is necessary to punish you, prevent you and others from engaging in activities for the purposes of terrorism, and protect the public from you.”

Edwards appeared via video-link from jail, where he was on remand until September 2022.

In September 2022 he was arrested after armed police surrounded his last terrace house in Redding, Falkirk and broke down his front door.

One trial heard that Edwards had written, “The quickest way to reach someone’s heart is with a high-powered 7.62mm round”.

Police found weapons and equipment, including a crossbow, 14 knives, some with Nazi and SS insignia, knives, a tomahawk, a samurai sword, knuckledusters, a slingshot, an extendable baton, and a stun gun.

They also found an air pistol, an SS-style skull mask, goggles and a respirator, hard-knuckle combat gloves, pelts, ball bearings, and hunting tips for crossbow arrows.

Prosecutors said it was an “arsenal” of weapons.

Edward also had an indoor cannabis garden that he was growing to sell.

The court heard that he had “a set of ideals consistent with neo-Nazi attitudes, including the notion of white supremacy, the racial purity of whites, racism, anti-Semitism and hatred of homosexuals and transgender people”.

Norwegian neo-Nazi mass murderer Anders Breivik was referred to as “St. Anders” in a document found on his computer.

An investigation into his WhatsApp account revealed he was sending messages to a colleague in nearby Grangemouth about a proposed attack on an LGBT group.

In a series of exchanges described by prosecutors as “incredibly horrific” he said: “They’ve been trying their luck for years, now they’re going to have to pay for it in blood.”

He said: “We should wear masks and go with some of them to their little gay club.”

Other messages targeted communists and Jewish people.

The court also heard that Edwards had two accounts on Gab, a social media platform popular among the far right.

He came to the attention of counter-terrorism investigators after posting a video of a National Action Rally held in 2016 – shortly before it became the first far-right group to be banned under the Terrorism Act in Britain.

Prosecutor Paul Kearney Casey said Edwards was “an individual with pronounced neo-Nazi ideals – preparing a terrorist act which would involve an ideologically motivated incident of serious violence”.

Police Scotland’s head of counter-terrorism investigations, Det Superintendent Stephen Clarke, said: “Edward shared extreme racist and homophobic material online with the aim of inciting hatred and spreading fear and alarm.

“Their complete disregard for the corrosive impact it has on our communities fueled these dangerous actions.

“Promoting terrorism or extremism is completely unacceptable, and this conviction demonstrates how we will not hesitate to investigate online or offline behavior that violates terrorism or other criminal law.

“The possession of a range of weapons posed a clear and significant risk to the public which underlines the importance of him being brought to justice.”