Student may face retrial on terror charge

A GATESHEAD College student accused of plotting to blow up a police station to spark a race war could face a retrial.

Luke Skelton, 18, who was said to have racist, sexist, homophobic, antisemitic and Islamophobic views, was on trial for preparing to commit acts of terrorism over the year to October 2021.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on the single charge.

The prosecution was given until Thursday to decide whether to ask for a retrial.

Skelton, from Oxclose, Washington, took photos of Forth Banks police station in Newcastle last September to carry out “hostile reconnaissance”, the prosecution claimed.

He was said to be a right-wing extremist who idolised Hitler, approved of the mass murder of Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, researched how to make explosives and had written a “final note”.

Skelton, who has autism, said in his defence that he was “embarrassed and ashamed” of the views he expressed last year and insisted he had no intention of carrying out acts of terrorism.