Jury fail to reach verdict on student

A STUDENT from Sunderland who has been accused of plotting to blow up a police station to spark a race war could face a retrial.

Luke Skelton, 18, was on trial at Teesside Crown Court for preparing to commit acts of terrorism over the year to October 2021.

Skelton, a Gateshead College student from Oxclose, Washington, was said to have racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic views.

However, a jury at Teesside Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on the single charge after seven hours of deliberations. The prosecution was given until Thursday to decide whether to ask for a retrial.

Skelton 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.

Police found Neo-Nazi material that Skelton had downloaded on to his computer and the defendant said he was “pushing boundaries” by having it, telling the jury: “I was being an idiot.”

Judge Paul Watson QC praised the jury for their close consideration of the trial when he discharged them from deliberating further. He said: “You have clearly given this case a great deal of attention and I am grateful to you for it.”