So another wannabe terrorist has been sent to prison. This is splendid stuff. As a person who thinks that prison is the best place for these lunatics who threaten our peaceful communities and personal safety, I am heartened that there have not been the usual cries of protest.
Guardian columnists have not tried to ‘explain’ this man’s actions, no organisations have protested that the police are incompetent, no civic leaders have have bemoaned the institutional prejudices of the courts, no civil libertarians have raised objections about his right to possess hate-literature or argued that owning bomb-making manuals is academic freedom. No one is on BBC News whining that his arrest makes the whole community live in fear or arrest too. Hell, even the Indymedia kids are cheering the police on!
I am thrilled that our incompetent police, flawed court system and bigoted juries are a thing of the past and that those who engage in preparation for terror can be arrested, charged and convicted with both efficiency and widespread public support.
Of course, the man convicted of stockpiling chemicals, videos and literature useful in the preparation of terrorism in this case was a far-right racist linked to Combat18 and apparently a member of the British People’s Party (The ‘BPP’ – not to be confused with the ‘BPA‘, the British People’s Alliance).
According the The Guardian:
A jury at Grimsby crown court took three-and-a-half hours to find Nathan Worrell, 35, guilty of possession of material for terrorist purposes and racially aggravated harassment.
He was described by anti-terror police yesterday as a “dangerous individual”.
The court heard books and manuals containing “recipes” to make bombs and detonators using household items such as weedkiller were found by police at Worrell’s flat in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.
Officers also discovered two tubs of sodium chlorate weedkiller and three bottles of lighter fluid, as well as fireworks.
The jury was shown a video by far-right group Combat 18 – showing how to make a bomb from household items – which was found in Worrell’s flat.
Police also discovered a significant amount of far-right propaganda, as well as membership cards for groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the November Ninth Society and the British People’s Party.
Worrell admitted to police that he was a white nationalist. He signed his texts off as “88” – a code for Hitler.
Yes, the police and the courts have cleaned up their acts so much that we no longer have to wonder whether this man was just expressing his fantasies, creating performence art, petty vandalism, being rebellious, or indulging in academic curiosity about how bombs work. Nor do we have to be concerned that was he innocently getting mixed up with the wrong people by seeking social approval, or understandably reacting angrily to local or world events or simply from the wrong community.
It’s such a relief.