Bomb kit extremist locked up
A FAR-RIGHT extremist who planned to make a ‘viable’ bomb was jailed for 12 years yesterday.
Neo-Nazi Peter Morgan had gathered a frightening stockpile of explosives, screws and fuses needed to make an effective improvised device capable of causing ‘horrific injuries’.
The 35-year-old, who was a proud member of the far-Right Scottish Defence League, had also amassed a collection of literature supporting ‘white power’ at his flat in Edinburgh.
A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh found the former window cleaner guilty of three offences under the Terrorism Act and Explosives Substances Act.
A RIGHT-wing extremist who was caught with a bomb-making kit has been locked up for 12 years.
Peter Morgan had collected explosive powder, fuses, screws and steel tacks along with nail gun rounds and a glass bottle studded with lead shot.
At an earlier trial, the 35-year-old was convicted of two charges under the Terrorism Act and one charge under the Explosives Substances Act 1883.
Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Boyd of Duncansby told him: ‘These charges threaten the safety of the public, our values as a democracy, and strike at the dignity and respect which all members of our community are entitled to expect whatever their race or religion.
‘You assert your right to freedom of speech. However abhorrent some may find your view, you are entitled to hold them.
‘What you are not entitled to do is to act on these views for the purpose of committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
‘Of most concern is that you not only possessed the ingredients for the making of an improvised explosive device but you had begun to assemble it.’
At his trial, Morgan denied the charges, saying he only planned to blow up a frozen turkey and film it for YouTube. But the jury rejected his claims and found him guilty.
Bomb disposal expert Sergeant Liam Davies told the trial that a ‘quite effective, viable’ improvised explosive device (IED) could be made from the items discovered in Morgan’s Edinburgh flat.
The soldier added that the completed IED could cause ‘horrific injury’ and potential death.
Police who searched Morgan’s flat also found an application form to become ‘a loyal white knight of the Ku Klux Klan’, along with a message he had sent stating: ‘I just hate the f ****** Muslims.’ There was also a Nazi swastika flag, a wartime German dagger and literature including an Al Qaeda terrorism manual.
His trial heard that Morgan was ‘quite proud’ to be part of the Scottish Defence League and travelled with others from the farRight group to attend a white pride rally in Manchester in 2015.
He was photographed at the march with his hood up carrying a Saltire and holding a ‘white pride worldwide’ poster.
The court heard how, on July 2 last year, emergency services were sent to the block of flats where Morgan lived after a young woman collapsed there.
A resident said she had previously seen the woman at Morgan’s flat and police decided to force entry because they feared that others inside could be at risk.
No one was in the flat but officers spotted drugs paraphernalia. The bomb-making kit, which included a quantity of commercial fireworks, was discovered in a subsequent search.
Former window cleaner Morgan, who had been prescribed the heroin substitute methadone, later told detectives that he was ‘more of a Left-leaning person’ and voted for the SNP. But defence solicitor advocate Brian Gilfedder said: ‘He is not shy about the political and social views that he said he legitimately holds.’
The judge ordered that Morgan should be kept under supervision for a further three years after his release from jail.
Detective Inspector Jackie Gilfillan of Police Scotland’s Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit said: ‘The sentence handed to Morgan reflects the serious nature of his crimes.’