Petrol bomber was far-Right racist obsessed with The Joker
THE Dover migrant centre petrol bomber was a Joker-obsessed racist who vowed to ‘end illegal immigration’ within one year almost exactly 12 months ago, it emerged last night.
Counter-terrorism officers have taken up the case of divorced fatherof-two Andrew Leak, who had a history of deluded online rants against Muslims and demanding that Britain close its borders.
Leak launched three homemade explosives at the Western Jet Foil centre on Sunday. Days before his attack on the migrant processing site, he tweeted: ‘It’s coming, get ready, if you’re not ready you will not survive what is coming you have been warned stand your ground.’
The 66-year-old’s Facebook profile was littered with pictures of Batman villain The Joker and he shared photos of himself in a balaclava and disturbing masks. Other vile social media posts included paranoid theories on the Covid vaccine and even suggesting the World Economic Forum was connected to Nazism.
Leak also had a history of sharing far-Right content from extremist groups including Traditional Britain Group, Turning Point UK and the US-based Islamophobic movement ACT for America.
He shared a transphobic article from conservative news site The Blaze and would reference farRight activist Tommy Robinson, a study of his profile by campaign group Hope Not Hate found.
He shared videos connected to common far-Right conspiracy theories including ‘New World Order’ and used other slogans common among conspiracy theorists, such as ‘we do not consent’, it found.
On July 28, roughly three months before the attack, in a garbled post he wrote: ‘I have 12 weeks to get you ready.’ Joe Mulhall, of Hope Not Hate, said: ‘We know that far-Right rhetoric can lead to violence and sadly this appears to be another case of that.
‘Andrew Leak’s social media presence reveals a series of worrying posts including support for far-Right groups and racist conspiracy theories.’
It appears Leak may have believed his shocking attack was honouring a pledge he made last October to ‘end illegal immigration into this country within one year’. He boasted online that he had ‘sent a parcel to the British government’ with his threat last year.
Almost exactly a year later he drove 120 miles from his home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, to throw three petrol bombs at a security checkpoint from his rented car. Then he drove to a nearby petrol station and killed himself. Two members of staff at the centre suffered minor injuries in the attack.
Seven hundred migrants were moved to Manston asylum processing centre, near Ramsgate in Kent, for safety reasons. Kent Police and Thames Valley Police began searching his £350,000 apartment hours after the attack, finally leaving yesterday afternoon.
They are investigating whether he was a Right-wing terrorist, as they search for a motive.
A number of items were recovered from Leak’s home, including digital media devices, which are being scoured for clues.
Leak moved to the retirement housing complex around nine years ago and told neighbours that he was an Army veteran who had served in Northern Ireland.
One neighbour said he would drink and smoke cannabis in the flat. ‘He was slightly odd,’ they said. ‘He smoked a lot of weed, you could smell it – he would stink the place out.
‘The police were called here quite a lot. He didn’t go out much. He would just stay in his room drinking and smoking.’
Others said he struggled with mental health problems and claimed he had been abused as a child. Local vicar Allan Abbott, 61, said: ‘He had had a very difficult life but was always friendly. I cannot believe he has done this.’
Leak would frequently suffer what he called ‘attacks’, where he would disappear for days to ‘rant’ away from neighbours. ‘He didn’t want to disturb people around here with his rantings and ravings,’ Mr Abbott explained.
Leak was very upset after his disability benefits were cut a few weeks ago when he turned 66 and started receiving a pension.
He suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, but lost his mobility scooter around 18 months ago because he couldn’t afford the insurance for it.
That came around the time that he said that his son, who was in his 30s, died. ‘He told me his son died from complications from his Covid jab,’ Mr Abbott said. Leak was also obsessed with news stories about children being abused.
‘Whenever he would see stories about it he would say, “How can anyone to do that a child?” He would get very upset,’ Mr Abbott said.
Leak divorced his wife ‘many years ago’ but would share his disability car with his daughter, Michaela, who lives nearby. She was too upset to talk last night.
He was also a cancer survivor and told one neighbour that he had his penis removed because of a late stage tumour around four years ago.
Leak was last seen by a neighbour returning from the shops at 7.30am on Saturday before, police believe, he travelled down to Dover to do a ‘recce’.
He was spotted by port security driving past the Western Jet Foil centre on the dockside several times on Saturday evening. Then on Sunday morning he returned and carried out his attack before killing himself.
Detective Chief Superintendent Olly Wright, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said: ‘At this point, the incident itself has not been declared a terrorist incident, but this is being kept under review as the investigation progresses.
‘What appears clear is that this despicable offence was targeted and likely to be driven by some form of hate-filled grievance, though this may not necessarily meet the threshold of terrorism. I would like to reassure people that there is nothing to suggest any ongoing wider threat at this time.’
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‘He smoked a lot of weed’