A school at the centre of a row over sex education has been forced to cancel its community Christmas fair – after it was targeted by members of the British National Party.
Grenoside Primary School in Sheffield is in the middle of consultation with parents over extending its sex education classes to younger pupils. The idea has caused concern to some parents.
The dispute was seized upon by the BNP after The Star’s original story was picked up by the national media. BNP members staged a demonstration outside the school, calling on staff and governors to drop their plans and then leafleting parents. The extreme right wing party then issued an ultimatum to the headteacher and chair of governors to change their policies in the next two weeks or face further action.
Headteacher Colin Fleetwood said the situation had spiraled out of control.
“It is incredibly disappointing and upsetting the BNP has chosen to interfere in our consultation process on sex and relationship education in this way,” he said. “Their actions are deplorable and the disruption they have made to the school’s consultation process is completely out of order. There is nothing we are doing here which warrants this. Parents don’t want them here and the school certainly doesn’t.”
Police were called after the demonstration and maintained a presence at the school for two days.
Mr Fleetwood said consultations would continue.
“In view of the current atmosphere we have decided it is sensible not to hold certain school events that would give these undesirable elements an opportunity for further demonstrations,” he said. “We don’t want the BNP anywhere near our school, so we have decided to cancel our annual community school fair. Instead we will hold an internal event just for parents and children.”
One mum said the BNP had intimidated staff, children and parents.
“Their actions have now resulted in ruining a special part of Christmas for local families,” she added.
The Star
Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up
Showing posts with label extreme right-wing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label extreme right-wing. Show all posts
November 27, 2011
November 14, 2011
Judge: Norway terror suspect is not insane
There is no reason to believe that Norway mass murder suspect Anders Behring Breivik is insane, District Court Judge Torkjel Nesheim said Monday.
There is also no evidence he had accomplices in the bomb and gun rampage in which he is accused of killing 77 people this summer, the judge said. The judge ordered him held in custody for a further 12 weeks, with visits and correspondence controlled by the authorities for the first eight, and a ban on media for the first four.
More than 500 people packed into a court in Oslo, Norway, to see the suspect's first public appearance, said Irene Ramm, head of press for the Oslo court. A woman whose daughter was killed in the massacre said she could not understand "how a human being could do something like that."
"That's why I had to be here today. I don't understand, so I had to see, had to be here," said the woman, who was identified only as "Carina" on Norway's TV2. "He looked cold, completely cold," she said.
He was not allowed to deliver a speech he had prepared, the station reported. Breivik said he did not recognize the authority of the court on the grounds that he opposes the multi-cultural society it is part of, TV2 said. He was stopped on several occasions when he started referring to himself as Commander of the Knights Templar, a title he used in his 1,500-page manifesto, the station reported.
"I interrupted Breivik during today's hearing because I only wanted to hear him about matters relating to today's hearing," Judge Nesheim said. "This was not the main trial where he gets to explain himself. I did not want to give him the opportunity to use this hearing as a platform for him to express his views."
Until now, the proceedings for Breivik have been held behind closed doors. The hearing was to determine whether to keep Breivik in jail until his trial in the spring. Prosecutors expect it to begin in March or April, the judge said.
Survivors return to scene of island rampage
He is accused of killing dozens of people in a bomb attack in Oslo followed by a shooting rampage on nearby Utoya island. Eight people were killed in a bombing in Oslo; 69 young people were killed on Utoya island, in the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II. The young people were attending a Labour Party youth camp. Most of the 700 campers ranged in age from 16-22, with some as young as 13.
Breivik has pleaded not guilty but admits carrying out the attacks, the judge said.
"The accused is still suspected on probable cause of criminal acts, as described in the charges. He has admitted the bombing in central Oslo and also the shooting on Utoya. The investigation has also confirmed this," Nesheim said.
He is described by authorities as a right-wing Christian extremist. The 1,500-page manifesto attributed to Breivik was posted on the Internet and is critical of Muslim immigration and European liberalism.
CNN
There is also no evidence he had accomplices in the bomb and gun rampage in which he is accused of killing 77 people this summer, the judge said. The judge ordered him held in custody for a further 12 weeks, with visits and correspondence controlled by the authorities for the first eight, and a ban on media for the first four.
More than 500 people packed into a court in Oslo, Norway, to see the suspect's first public appearance, said Irene Ramm, head of press for the Oslo court. A woman whose daughter was killed in the massacre said she could not understand "how a human being could do something like that."
"That's why I had to be here today. I don't understand, so I had to see, had to be here," said the woman, who was identified only as "Carina" on Norway's TV2. "He looked cold, completely cold," she said.
He was not allowed to deliver a speech he had prepared, the station reported. Breivik said he did not recognize the authority of the court on the grounds that he opposes the multi-cultural society it is part of, TV2 said. He was stopped on several occasions when he started referring to himself as Commander of the Knights Templar, a title he used in his 1,500-page manifesto, the station reported.
"I interrupted Breivik during today's hearing because I only wanted to hear him about matters relating to today's hearing," Judge Nesheim said. "This was not the main trial where he gets to explain himself. I did not want to give him the opportunity to use this hearing as a platform for him to express his views."
Until now, the proceedings for Breivik have been held behind closed doors. The hearing was to determine whether to keep Breivik in jail until his trial in the spring. Prosecutors expect it to begin in March or April, the judge said.
Survivors return to scene of island rampage
He is accused of killing dozens of people in a bomb attack in Oslo followed by a shooting rampage on nearby Utoya island. Eight people were killed in a bombing in Oslo; 69 young people were killed on Utoya island, in the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II. The young people were attending a Labour Party youth camp. Most of the 700 campers ranged in age from 16-22, with some as young as 13.
Breivik has pleaded not guilty but admits carrying out the attacks, the judge said.
"The accused is still suspected on probable cause of criminal acts, as described in the charges. He has admitted the bombing in central Oslo and also the shooting on Utoya. The investigation has also confirmed this," Nesheim said.
He is described by authorities as a right-wing Christian extremist. The 1,500-page manifesto attributed to Breivik was posted on the Internet and is critical of Muslim immigration and European liberalism.
CNN
February 05, 2011
The Germ of Hate Spreads in Russia
The terror attack on Moscow's main airport last week has fuelled the flames of xenophobia in Russia. The Kremlin isn't intervening to halt the trend that could cause deep rifts in the country's multiethnic society.
The wreckage at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport had hardly been removed before a young man in St. Petersburg had incorporated the attack into his election campaign.
Andrey Kuznetsov, a computer engineer with neatly parted brown hair, is campaigning for a seat in the regional parliament as a representative of the extreme right-wing party Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI). Kuznetsov wants to see guest workers that have come to St. Petersburg from Central Asia and the Caucasus expelled or at least required "to live in certain neighborhoods, so that they can be monitored more easily."
On Tuesday, the day after the suicide bombing at Domodedovo Airport, which has been traced to groups in the Caucasus, DPNI supporters protested in St. Petersburg's Kupchino neighborhood. One of the party's activists had been stabbed and wounded by an Azerbaijani.
"The war in the Caucasus has arrived in our cities," says Kuznetsov. "We send them money, and they send us terrorists." President Dmitry Medvedev's strategy of trying to pacify the region with billions in investment is a "bad joke," says Kuznetsov. "The experiences in Germany and France show that Muslims do not assimilate. We have to keep them out."
On the Brink of Disintegration?
The right-wing extremists' demands are also meeting with approval among ordinary citizens. A radical form of Islam is gaining the upper hand in the Caucasus. More than 40 percent of Russians favor the secession of the region. The number of attacks there has doubled within a year, and hundreds of thousands of ethnic Russians have fled to Russia. The wars the Kremlin waged in Chechnya and Georgia were in vain, and today the majority of Russians no longer want Chechens, Dagestanis, Ingush and Balkars as fellow citizens.
Twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, terrorism is challenging not only Moscow's control of the Caucasus but also Russia's future as a multiethnic society. The country is home to more than 100 nationalities. Muslims make up 20 million of a population of 141 million, and seven million guest workers contribute to prosperity in Russia. In surveys, however, 36 percent of Moscow residents say that they feel "hatred" toward Chechens.
The writer Victor Erofeyev believes that "extreme nationalism is the germ that could lead to the country's disintegration." The nationalist-communist weekly newspaper Zavtra even sees a civil war on the horizon.
Last year, 37 people were reportedly killed in racist acts of violence against non-Russians. In October, the mayor of the town of Khotkovo near Moscow announced a "self-cleansing" campaign. Ironically, it was on the Day of National Unity that right-wing extremists set fire to a dormitory for foreigners and businesses fired all non-Slavic employees. In December, a radical mob staged a protest in front of the Kremlin, complete with Hitler salutes, and hunted down Muscovites with southern features -- all because a Russian football fan had been stabbed by people from the Caucasus. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin laid flowers at the grave of the victim and threatened to tighten immigration rules.
Playing with Xenophobia
A few days after Putin's appearance, the Moscow police chief announced that he intended "to examine whether liberal and democratic principles are truly compatible with the interests of the public." He wants to reintroduce the strict Soviet-era registration system, which significantly limited unrestricted movement around the country.
However, betting on the chauvinistic feelings of a deeply insecure nation has always been risky. In 2003, the Kremlin launched the nationalist Rodina (Motherland) Party, headed by the charismatic politician Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's current ambassador to NATO in Brussels. When Rodina promptly captured 9.2 percent of the vote, Kremlin planners dropped their support for the party because of its "xenophobia."
At the end of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin and the intelligence service created the LPDR, the party of nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, to lure away voters from the communists. Zhirinovsky has since become the vice-chairman of the Russian parliament. Four days before the airport bombing, Zhirinovsky was given several minutes of airtime on state-owned television to agitate against people from the Caucasus, calling them "those thieves and speculators who neither work nor learn anything." The ultranationalist his face beet-red, shouted into the microphone: "We shit on the Caucasus. We've been fed up with it for a long time."
Neither Medvedev nor Putin called Zhirinovsky to order.
Spiegel Online
Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up
The wreckage at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport had hardly been removed before a young man in St. Petersburg had incorporated the attack into his election campaign.
Andrey Kuznetsov, a computer engineer with neatly parted brown hair, is campaigning for a seat in the regional parliament as a representative of the extreme right-wing party Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI). Kuznetsov wants to see guest workers that have come to St. Petersburg from Central Asia and the Caucasus expelled or at least required "to live in certain neighborhoods, so that they can be monitored more easily."
On Tuesday, the day after the suicide bombing at Domodedovo Airport, which has been traced to groups in the Caucasus, DPNI supporters protested in St. Petersburg's Kupchino neighborhood. One of the party's activists had been stabbed and wounded by an Azerbaijani.
"The war in the Caucasus has arrived in our cities," says Kuznetsov. "We send them money, and they send us terrorists." President Dmitry Medvedev's strategy of trying to pacify the region with billions in investment is a "bad joke," says Kuznetsov. "The experiences in Germany and France show that Muslims do not assimilate. We have to keep them out."
On the Brink of Disintegration?
The right-wing extremists' demands are also meeting with approval among ordinary citizens. A radical form of Islam is gaining the upper hand in the Caucasus. More than 40 percent of Russians favor the secession of the region. The number of attacks there has doubled within a year, and hundreds of thousands of ethnic Russians have fled to Russia. The wars the Kremlin waged in Chechnya and Georgia were in vain, and today the majority of Russians no longer want Chechens, Dagestanis, Ingush and Balkars as fellow citizens.
Twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, terrorism is challenging not only Moscow's control of the Caucasus but also Russia's future as a multiethnic society. The country is home to more than 100 nationalities. Muslims make up 20 million of a population of 141 million, and seven million guest workers contribute to prosperity in Russia. In surveys, however, 36 percent of Moscow residents say that they feel "hatred" toward Chechens.
The writer Victor Erofeyev believes that "extreme nationalism is the germ that could lead to the country's disintegration." The nationalist-communist weekly newspaper Zavtra even sees a civil war on the horizon.
Last year, 37 people were reportedly killed in racist acts of violence against non-Russians. In October, the mayor of the town of Khotkovo near Moscow announced a "self-cleansing" campaign. Ironically, it was on the Day of National Unity that right-wing extremists set fire to a dormitory for foreigners and businesses fired all non-Slavic employees. In December, a radical mob staged a protest in front of the Kremlin, complete with Hitler salutes, and hunted down Muscovites with southern features -- all because a Russian football fan had been stabbed by people from the Caucasus. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin laid flowers at the grave of the victim and threatened to tighten immigration rules.
Playing with Xenophobia
A few days after Putin's appearance, the Moscow police chief announced that he intended "to examine whether liberal and democratic principles are truly compatible with the interests of the public." He wants to reintroduce the strict Soviet-era registration system, which significantly limited unrestricted movement around the country.
However, betting on the chauvinistic feelings of a deeply insecure nation has always been risky. In 2003, the Kremlin launched the nationalist Rodina (Motherland) Party, headed by the charismatic politician Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's current ambassador to NATO in Brussels. When Rodina promptly captured 9.2 percent of the vote, Kremlin planners dropped their support for the party because of its "xenophobia."
At the end of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin and the intelligence service created the LPDR, the party of nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, to lure away voters from the communists. Zhirinovsky has since become the vice-chairman of the Russian parliament. Four days before the airport bombing, Zhirinovsky was given several minutes of airtime on state-owned television to agitate against people from the Caucasus, calling them "those thieves and speculators who neither work nor learn anything." The ultranationalist his face beet-red, shouted into the microphone: "We shit on the Caucasus. We've been fed up with it for a long time."
Neither Medvedev nor Putin called Zhirinovsky to order.
Spiegel Online
Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up
June 08, 2010
Carmarthen school 'should clamp down on pupil's racist website'
Carmarthenshire council has been criticised for distancing itself from an extreme right-wing website created by a county borough schoolboy.A 16-year-old GCSE pupil at Queen Elizabeth High School in Carmarthen has been identified as the creator of The Carmarthenshire Front website, which calls for the closure of all mosques and warns of a threat against white men.
Campaigners for racial equality and members of a leading teaching union say the local authority should be working to educate youngsters in order to eradicate racial prejudice. The call comes after both the council and school declined to take action against the pupil.
Rex Phillips, from teaching union NASUWT Wales, said: "Although the school has correctly and swiftly dissociated itself from this racist website, the Carmarthenshire authority is wrong to claim that this is not a school matter. Such complacency is wholly unacceptable."
The website features videos of BNP leader Nick Griffin talking about the "Islamification" of Europe, and describes the dangers facing the "white man" from a "tsunami of immigration".
A member of the senior leadership team at Queen Elizabeth High School said: "We have got no control over what an individual writes in their spare time. We completely and totally dissociate ourselves from anything of this nature."
Meanwhile, a statement from the council added: "Queen Elizabeth High School completely disassociates itself from this website and its contents. This is not a school matter."
However, Taha Idris, director of Swansea Bay Racial Equality Council, said: "Protesters like the Welsh Defence League may influence young, impressionable people so it is vital that we educate our youths."
Chris Keates, General Secretary of NASUWT added: "There is still much more to be done to protect young people from having their attitudes poisoned in this way. Families, schools, communities and government all have a responsibility to combat and challenge these unacceptable views. It is not acceptable for either the school or local authority to claim to have no responsibility in this matter."
However Carmarthenshire Council has defended its stance. Head of improvement and skills Wyn Williams said: "The county council is very active in working with schools and instilling core values and beliefs in our children and young people. Our Children and Young People's Plan promotes a number of key values and beliefs, which are taught in our schools. It clearly states that children and young people should appreciate and respect their own and others' beliefs and attitudes."
This is South Wales
June 06, 2010
Anti-Islam website written and run by schoolboy, 16
An extreme right-wing website calling for the closure of all mosques and warning of the threat to “the white man” is the work of a 16-year-old Welsh schoolboy, Wales on Sunday has learned.
Website ‘The Carmarthenshire Front’ – named after the far-right National Front – features videos of BNP leader Nick Griffin talking about the “Islamification” of Europe, and describes the dangers facing the “white man” from the “tsunami of immigration” coming into Britain. It also features a section called “How and where to spread propaganda” which tells people to “hit” libraries, residential neighbourhoods, supermarkets and schools in order to pedal the sinister material.
But rather than a large-scale organisation, the website is written and run by a GCSE pupil at Queen Elizabeth High School in Carmarthen. Wales on Sunday is not naming the youngster. The school immediately sought to distance itself from the website, emphasising that they go out of their way to have an inclusive policy towards students. There is no evidence that the pupil worked on the website during school hours.
The “about us” section on the website reads: “Carmarthenshire Front is a collection of nationalist friends and comrades from various groups and organisations. We are here to promote racial awareness in the county of Carmarthenshire, amongst all classes. We do not promote anything illegal.”
The website fights against mosques, saying: “Say NO, Vote NO, Mosques must GO!”
It particularly attacks plans to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 massacre in New York, saying: “This is the sickest thing I have ever heard, and it’s perhaps no surprise when we note that Obama is a Muslim himself, which I would say must go a long way to explaining why this evil plan has been passed.”
The website goes on to attack the media for “failing to report on racist attacks against whites” and also lays into the British Government for sending aid to foreign countries. It says: “Only the nationalist parties have called for an immediate halt to all foreign aid programmes, and the reallocation of that budget to pressing internal problems inside Britain.”
It claims to have links with other “fronts” across the UK, including Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent, York and Newcastle. The website also features a page dedicated to printable posters and stickers showing masked protestors with their fists in the air under the banner “National Resistance”. There is also a picture of former UK PM Tony Blair and Barack Obama standing underneath a giant figure wearing a gas-mask and wielding a giant grim reaper-like scythe.
A member of the senior leadership team at Queen Elizabeth High School said: “We have got no control over what an individual writes in their spare time. The school has been recognised for, and has an ethos of, inclusiveness for everyone. We completely and totally disassociate ourselves from anything of this nature.”
A statement from the Carmarthenshire Local Education Authority read: “Queen Elizabeth High School completely disassociates itself from this website and its contents.”
“This is not a school matter,” it said.
Wales Online
Thanks to Old Sailor for the heads-up.
Website ‘The Carmarthenshire Front’ – named after the far-right National Front – features videos of BNP leader Nick Griffin talking about the “Islamification” of Europe, and describes the dangers facing the “white man” from the “tsunami of immigration” coming into Britain. It also features a section called “How and where to spread propaganda” which tells people to “hit” libraries, residential neighbourhoods, supermarkets and schools in order to pedal the sinister material.
But rather than a large-scale organisation, the website is written and run by a GCSE pupil at Queen Elizabeth High School in Carmarthen. Wales on Sunday is not naming the youngster. The school immediately sought to distance itself from the website, emphasising that they go out of their way to have an inclusive policy towards students. There is no evidence that the pupil worked on the website during school hours.
The “about us” section on the website reads: “Carmarthenshire Front is a collection of nationalist friends and comrades from various groups and organisations. We are here to promote racial awareness in the county of Carmarthenshire, amongst all classes. We do not promote anything illegal.”
The website fights against mosques, saying: “Say NO, Vote NO, Mosques must GO!”
It particularly attacks plans to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 massacre in New York, saying: “This is the sickest thing I have ever heard, and it’s perhaps no surprise when we note that Obama is a Muslim himself, which I would say must go a long way to explaining why this evil plan has been passed.”
The website goes on to attack the media for “failing to report on racist attacks against whites” and also lays into the British Government for sending aid to foreign countries. It says: “Only the nationalist parties have called for an immediate halt to all foreign aid programmes, and the reallocation of that budget to pressing internal problems inside Britain.”
It claims to have links with other “fronts” across the UK, including Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent, York and Newcastle. The website also features a page dedicated to printable posters and stickers showing masked protestors with their fists in the air under the banner “National Resistance”. There is also a picture of former UK PM Tony Blair and Barack Obama standing underneath a giant figure wearing a gas-mask and wielding a giant grim reaper-like scythe.
A member of the senior leadership team at Queen Elizabeth High School said: “We have got no control over what an individual writes in their spare time. The school has been recognised for, and has an ethos of, inclusiveness for everyone. We completely and totally disassociate ourselves from anything of this nature.”
A statement from the Carmarthenshire Local Education Authority read: “Queen Elizabeth High School completely disassociates itself from this website and its contents.”
“This is not a school matter,” it said.
Wales Online
Thanks to Old Sailor for the heads-up.
October 10, 2009
Kaminski admits wearing 'fascist' symbol
Michal KaminskI, the Polish MEP at the centre of the controversy over David Cameron’s European alliances has admitted he wore the symbol of a totalitarion group, claims he had previously denied.In an interview with the JC, Mr Kaminski was asked if he had ever said he was proud to wear the Chrobry Sword [pictured, left], the symbol of the National Radical Camp (ONR). Formed in 1934, the extreme rightwing, nationalist ONR- Falanga was largely a student movement, but practised violent anti-Semitism including attacks on Jewish students, buildings and businesses, organised boycotts of Jewish businesses and attacks on left wing groups. The group used the medieval symbol of the Mieczyk Chrobrego – the Chrobry sword. Mr KaminskI categorically denied knowledge of wearing the Chrobry sword symbol.
He told the JC: “No, I never wear it. I don’t even know which symbol you are referring to.”
But Mr KaminskI later issued a clarification, where he admitted he had worn the badge. He said: "I did wear the sword, which was used around a millennia ago to crown Polish Kings, on my lapel on occasions. After 1989 it was used as one of the symbols of the Christian National Union and many Conservative politicians would wear it, including politicians now in the Civic Platform.
“In recent years it has been taken as a symbol by the Far Right. Although it is not the same, there are similarities with how the BNP in Britain has taken the Union Jack as their symbol. When I felt the symbol started having this meaning I stopped wearing it and I asked the rest of my party to stop too.”
He added: “I acknowledge that it is possible that my pronunciation was unclear, so I am happy to clarify his position on this controversial symbol."
JC
June 05, 2009
Nerve poison ricin feared at suspect's home
Traces of the deadly poison ricin may have been discovered at the house of a suspected white supremacist, police said today.
Anti-terror officers raided the home of Ian Davison in Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, County Durham on Tuesday. Since the 41-year-old former pub DJ's arrest under the Terrorism Act 2000 forensic officers have been examining the terraced property.
Assistant Chief Constable Michael Barton said: "Specialist police officers have been carrying out a meticulous search of the property which is a 'two-up two-down' terraced house. They have uncovered a substance, which we believe has traces of Ricin. It was in a sealed jam jar that has been kept in a kitchen cupboard - apparently for up to two years. Tests on the substance were carried out at a Government laboratory in Edinburgh on Thursday."
Speaking at a press conference at the force HQ in Durham City, Mr Barton added: "Specialists from the Ministry of Defence establishment at Porton Down are due in Durham today to discuss the safe transfer of the substance to their laboratories for further tests. That transfer will take place under a police or military escort and their report should be finalised in the next few days.
"Purely as a precautionary measure the search of the house has been halted for the time being. The property is cordoned off and remains secure and under police guard. Specialist help has been offered by government agencies. Durham Police is liaising with them and will continue to work closely with our local partners and other services until this is over."
Davison was being quizzed by officers from Durham Police and the North East Counter Terrorism Unit at a police station in West Yorkshire. Also arrested in Tuesday's operation was Davison's teenage son Nicky, 18, who was held on suspicion of inciting racial hatred following a swoop at his home in Grampian Court, Annfield Plain. However, he has since been re-arrested and is also now detained under the Terrorism Act in West Yorkshire.
Durham Police said the arrests followed a long-running intelligence-led operation against extreme right-wing activity.
Mr Barton continued: "Because of the find the search of the house will be continued by officers in specialist protective clothing. That search is likely to last for several days. There may be other suspicious items in the property. Staff are on a heightened state of alert to what could be found and a cordon will remain in place until experts confirm there are no further suspicious substances at the address.
"Immediate neighbours to the house, who are fully supportive of the police operation, are being spoken to about the latest developments. They are being given advice and will be kept fully informed. On scientific advice we are told there is no need for them to be evacuated. I would again like to reassure people in Burnopfield that the substance found was sealed in an airtight container prior to its removal.
"As such no one is believed to have been exposed to the substance or be at risk of any potential ill-effects. We do not believe that there is any risk to public health. Public safety remains our priority and we are grateful for the ongoing patience and co-operation of local people while these inquiries are concluded."
Ricin has been used in plots by suspected al Qaida operatives and can be fatal if when inhaled, ingested or - most dangerously - injected. It is made from the beans of the castor oil plant and is 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide. Experts say that 70mg or two millionths of an ounce - roughly equivalent to the weight of a single grain of salt - is enough to kill an adult.
To cause mass casualties ricin would need to be either used in aerosol form or as an additive to food or drink. Ricin was used by the Aum cult on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 in an attack that left 12 people dead.
Independent
Anti-terror officers raided the home of Ian Davison in Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, County Durham on Tuesday. Since the 41-year-old former pub DJ's arrest under the Terrorism Act 2000 forensic officers have been examining the terraced property.
Assistant Chief Constable Michael Barton said: "Specialist police officers have been carrying out a meticulous search of the property which is a 'two-up two-down' terraced house. They have uncovered a substance, which we believe has traces of Ricin. It was in a sealed jam jar that has been kept in a kitchen cupboard - apparently for up to two years. Tests on the substance were carried out at a Government laboratory in Edinburgh on Thursday."
Speaking at a press conference at the force HQ in Durham City, Mr Barton added: "Specialists from the Ministry of Defence establishment at Porton Down are due in Durham today to discuss the safe transfer of the substance to their laboratories for further tests. That transfer will take place under a police or military escort and their report should be finalised in the next few days.
"Purely as a precautionary measure the search of the house has been halted for the time being. The property is cordoned off and remains secure and under police guard. Specialist help has been offered by government agencies. Durham Police is liaising with them and will continue to work closely with our local partners and other services until this is over."
Davison was being quizzed by officers from Durham Police and the North East Counter Terrorism Unit at a police station in West Yorkshire. Also arrested in Tuesday's operation was Davison's teenage son Nicky, 18, who was held on suspicion of inciting racial hatred following a swoop at his home in Grampian Court, Annfield Plain. However, he has since been re-arrested and is also now detained under the Terrorism Act in West Yorkshire.
Durham Police said the arrests followed a long-running intelligence-led operation against extreme right-wing activity.
Mr Barton continued: "Because of the find the search of the house will be continued by officers in specialist protective clothing. That search is likely to last for several days. There may be other suspicious items in the property. Staff are on a heightened state of alert to what could be found and a cordon will remain in place until experts confirm there are no further suspicious substances at the address.
"Immediate neighbours to the house, who are fully supportive of the police operation, are being spoken to about the latest developments. They are being given advice and will be kept fully informed. On scientific advice we are told there is no need for them to be evacuated. I would again like to reassure people in Burnopfield that the substance found was sealed in an airtight container prior to its removal.
"As such no one is believed to have been exposed to the substance or be at risk of any potential ill-effects. We do not believe that there is any risk to public health. Public safety remains our priority and we are grateful for the ongoing patience and co-operation of local people while these inquiries are concluded."
Ricin has been used in plots by suspected al Qaida operatives and can be fatal if when inhaled, ingested or - most dangerously - injected. It is made from the beans of the castor oil plant and is 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide. Experts say that 70mg or two millionths of an ounce - roughly equivalent to the weight of a single grain of salt - is enough to kill an adult.
To cause mass casualties ricin would need to be either used in aerosol form or as an additive to food or drink. Ricin was used by the Aum cult on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 in an attack that left 12 people dead.
Independent
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