County Durham terror plot father and son are jailed

Ian (left) and Nicky Davison

A neo-Nazi who made the poison ricin and plotted to overthrow the government has been jailed for 10 years

Police found the deadly chemical when they raided Ian Davison's home in Burnopfield, County Durham, last June. The 41-year-old admitted producing a chemical weapon, preparing for acts of terrorism and having terror handbooks. His son Nicky, 19, who was convicted of possessing material useful for acts of terror, was detained for two years at a young offenders' institution.

The pair, who had earlier been tried separately at Newcastle Crown Court, set up and ran the Aryan Strike Force (ASF) website.

Ian Davison created ricin at his home in 2006 or early 2007, Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting, said. It was found when police raided the property in June last year and is now stored at the UK's Porton Down chemical weapons centre. The court heard that Ian Davison researched how to make the killer chemical and then followed instructions, having bought its easily-sourced ingredients.

Passing sentence, Judge John Milford told the father: "A particularly unpleasant aggravating feature of this case is that you corrupted your son."

Mr Edis said: "He was a leading member of the ASF which was a neo-Nazi organisation dedicated to using violence. Its slogan was 'Whatever it takes'. The purpose of the violence was the creation of an international Aryan group which would establish white supremacy in 'white' countries. They were followers of the ideology of Adolf Hitler, who they revered, and whose work Mein Kampf was among many available on their website."

Mr Edis said the ASF had about 350 members recruited via the internet, though not all were active. Other alleged members will face trial later this year.

Mr Edis said: "This defendant intended to perpetrate acts of terrorism. The ricin which he made would be used in pursuit of the cause espoused by the group."

The Crown said the group had not picked out particular targets, but had run a training camp in Cumbria and made promotional films. The ASF, also known as the Wolf Pack, aimed to overthrow "Zionist" governments and considered itself to be the UK's most right-wing group. Davison Snr was in contact with a Nazi in Serbia and the pair discussed poisoning water supplies used by Muslims, Mr Edis said. Davison Snr possessed many copies of terror guidebooks such as the Anarchist's Cookbook and made them available for download.

Toby Hedworth QC, defending, said a psychological report showed Davison Snr was a "super-wimp not a savage" who had a "fragile ego".

Peter Carter QC, for Davison Jnr, said his client was of previous good character and had been corrupted by his father. He has now thrown away any chance of an Army career, the court heard. The judge said he accepted the son had been influenced by his father.

"But you were actively in the website and expressed on it the same vile, racist views as your father," he said. "I accept you knew nothing of the ricin."

Judge Milford also expressed surprise that the Anarchist's Cookbook was still available to buy on the Amazon website and asked the authorities to look into it.

Outside court, Det Supt Neil Malkin, of Durham Police, said he wanted terror manuals removed from the internet.

"This is a landmark case and will bring the attention of the authorities at a national level to the need to restrict these documents," he said.

He said just downloading the Anarchist's Cookbook from the internet was an offence. He added: "Ian Davison was only one step away from producing a terrorist event."

The Crown Prosecution Service said Ian Davison was the first man in England and Wales to be convicted of a terrorism-related offence involving ricin. Counter terrorism division lawyer Stuart Laidlaw said the pair were "Nazi zealots" who believed in white supremacy and revered Adolf Hitler. He said: "They hated minority ethnic groups, be they black, Asian, Muslim or Jewish."

He added that 10 fatal doses of ricin were found in Ian Davison's house, all of which were made by him.

BBC