Britain’s f irst ‘incel’ terrorist
Frustrated celibate had bombing kit
BRITAIN’S first ‘involuntary celibate’ bomb-maker discussed launching an attack after becoming angry about his lack of success with women.
Anwar Said Driouich, 22, was part of a misogynistic movement named ‘Incel’, which has been associated with at least six mass shootings in the United States.
Followers believe in ‘genetic determinism’ and blame attractive men and women for their own inability to find a partner.
The subculture first turned violent when Elliot Rodger murdered six fellow students at the University of California before killing himself in May 2014.
Rodger left a ‘manifesto’ and a YouTube video disclosing that his motivation for the attack was a failure to find a girlfriend, which led to his hatred for those who were in relationships.
Annie Kelly, a PhD student at the University of East Anglia, warned in March it was a matter of time before an ‘Incel attack’ was carried out in the UK.
Yesterday Driouich, from Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing an explosive substance and seven counts of possessing a document containing terrorist information. He will be sentenced today.
The Old Bailey heard that police were called by chemical supplier Aqua Plants Care when Driouich bought 10kg (22lb) of ammonium nitrate online. When his home was raided, officers found further bomb-making chemicals and manuals.
On the day before his arrest, Driouich had viewed a website post with the title ‘Could be another ER coming up soon’ – understood to have been a reference to Rodger’s attack.
In one online discussion, Driouich wrote: ‘It’s f ****** humiliating I have no hope with girls man I might as well be a ghost to them, it’s pathetic. I want to massacre this place man.’
Driouich pleaded guilty after a judge ruled that his proposed defence – that he was only buying the chemicals and downloading bomb-making manuals to ‘relieve his emotional pain’ – could not be put before a jury.
The case was dealt with as part of the Old Bailey terrorism list, although Kiernan Cunningham, prosecuting, said Driouich showed no evidence of having a ‘terrorist mind-set’.
But Mr Cunningham told an earlier hearing: ‘There is evidence of the suspect’s morbid fascination with extreme violence, born out of his disillusionment at his own existence and his intention to commit suicide and in doing so to harm others.’