Neo-Nazi in mosque terror plot is given life
He pledged ‘demise’ of Islam
A NEO-NAZI who planned terror attacks on mosques was jailed for life yesterday. Connor Ward had bomb-making equipment at his home along with a list of places of worship.
The 25-year-old had acquired hundreds of ball bearings and tubes which could have been used in pipe bombs and missile launchers.
At the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lord Burns told him he must serve at least six years before he becomes eligible for parole.
Lord Burns said: ‘You formed an intention to attack a mosque or mosques in Aberdeen and would have acted alone. You had reached the stage of identifying your targets and expressed threats against Muslims .
‘You planned to cause serious injury at the least. Your obsession with weapons and explosives and your extreme Rightwing attitudes presents serious risk to the public.’
Ward, of Banff, was caught with a terrifying arms cache and had pledged the ‘demise’ of Islam.
He was convicted last month after a trial in Edinburgh, with jurors finding him guilty of two charges of breaching the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Terrorism Act 2006, between February 26, 2011, and November 21, 2014.
Police who searched his home found hundreds of ball bearings and ‘rocket’ tubes capable of firing projectiles. A stun gun, knuckle-dusters, knives, metal bars, an axe and deactivated bullets were also discovered.
Officers had received a tip-off Ward had broken firearms rules by buying a stun gun abroad.
They also found he had downloaded thousands of documents from the internet on firearms and survival techniques.
These also contained extreme Right-wing propaganda and material on military tactics.
A map with addresses for five Aberdeen mosques was found on Ward’s computer, and he had been compiling a book called ‘Combat 18 British Mosque Address Book’, named after the British extreme Right-wing group. On the title page was written: ‘This is dedicated to all that follow Mohammed and the Islamic faith. You will all soon suffer your demise.’
Ex-psychiatric patient Ward claimed he had been suffering a mental illness and had believed the world was going to end.
He was previously jailed for three years in 2012 for collecting the components of a bomb in order to harm his father.
He was given 22 months in April 2015 for having a stun gun, and convicted in July 2016 of having an ‘improvised’ knife while in jail. He got 18 months.