'Neo-Nazi' leader of National Action jailed for eight years

'Neo-Nazi' leader of National Action jailed for eight years

The leader of neo-Nazi group National Action has been jailed for eight years after he was found guilty of membership of the banned group .

Christopher Lythgoe, 32, from Warrington, was sentenced at the Old Bailey. Another prominent National Action member, Matthew Hankinson, 24, was jailed for six years for membership of the group.

The far-right group was banned by the Home Secretary over its support of the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed to death in 2016 by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair.

The court was told that Lythgoe had regarded the death of the Batley and Spen MP in her own constituency as a "little victory".

Lythgoe was arrested by police investigating a plot to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper and a female police officer.

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He was also accused of encouraging the murder of the West Lancashire MP, but was found not guilty.

Image: Labour MP Rosie Cooper was the target of a murder plot

The plot was foiled after whistle-blower Robbie Mullen leaked details of a meeting between members to campaigner group Hope Not Hate in July last year.

Jack Renshaw, 23, pleaded guilty to preparing to engage in an act of terrorism by buying a knife to kill the politician and threatening a police officer.

Renshaw, from Skelmersdale in Lancashire, has also been convicted of inciting racial hatred in speeches in 2016.

He was accused of being a member of National Action, but the jury failed to reach a verdict.

They also failed to reach verdicts on Andrew Clarke, 33, and Michal Trubini, 35.

Garron Helm, 24, was acquitted of the same charge.

Image: Jack Renshaw, 23, pleaded guilty to preparing an act of terrorism and threatening a police officer

Head of Investigations for Counter Terrorism Policing in the North West, detective superintendent Will Chatterton, said: "Today's result has enabled the spotlight to be shone on the sickening activities of the banned extreme right-wing organisation National Action.

"During the trial, one of those jailed today stood before the court and openly denied the Holocaust had taken place - an unimaginably horrific event that resulted in the murder of millions of Jews at the hands of the Nazi regime.

"Today's result is a body blow to extreme right-wing organisations such as National Action.

"It sends out a clear message that counter-terrorism officers and partner agencies will rigorously identify and investigate any violently extreme individual or group who seek to bring a reign of terror to our shores."

Mr Justice Jay said the group had a "truly evil and dystopian vision" to create a race war and had been kept going by Lythgoe's obsessive determination.

He said that Lythgoe "did nothing to stop or discourage" the plot to kill Ms Cooper.

The judge added that while its numbers were too small to achieve its true aims, there was a risk that the group's ideology could have inspired terror attacks.

Image: The defendants were tried at the Old Bailey

He described Lythgoe as a "fully-fledged neo-Nazi complete with deep-seated racism and anti-Semitism".

Ms Cooper, who sat in court as the men were jailed, said in a statement: "I think it's awful that any public servant - teacher, nurse, doctor, police, MP - should be targeted and threatened with violence simply because of the job they do.

"To that end, I'd like to thank Robbie Mullen, whose information saved my life.

National Action is the first extreme right-wing group to be banned by the government since World War Two and had up to 100 members at its height.

The court heard that the group planned to "wipe out" non-white people "by any means necessary".

In his sentencing, Mr Justice Jay said that National Action meetings, under Lythgoe's leadership had continued on a "modest" scale after the group was banned by then-Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

The prosecution alleged the meetings continued in pubs and a mixed martial arts gym in Warrington.

All six defendants denied being members of National Action. </s> THE alleged leader of right-wing terror group National Action has made his first crown court appearance at the Old Bailey accused of giving the green light for the machete murder of Labour MP Rosie Cooper.

Christopher Lythgoe, of Greymist Avenue, Woolston, is charged with granting a fellow member of the banned group permission to carry out the attack last year.

A 22-year-old man, from Lancashire, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is charged with intending to commit acts of terrorism contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

The charge states that he bought a 'Gladius Machete' for the purpose of murdering West Lancashire MP Ms Cooper between June 5 and July 3.

He is also accused of making threats to kill a female police officer on July 1.

Lythgoe, 31, is charged with encouraging the 22-year-old to commit murder and both men are also charged with being members of National Action.

They appeared alongside four other alleged members of the banned group including Matthew Hankinson, 23, from Newton-le-Willows, and Andrew Clarke, 33, of Marsh House Lane, Paddington.

The suspects are accused of continuing to be members of National Action after the group was banned under UK law on December 16, 2016, until their arrest on September 27, 2017.

National Action became the first extreme right-wing group to be banned under terrorism laws in December 2016.

The court order means that being a member of or inviting support for the organisation is a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 10 years' imprisonment.

No pleas were entered during the hearing but a trial date has been earmarked for June 11 at the Old Bailey.
Six alleged members of the banned neo-Nazi group National Action appear in court. One is accused of planning to kill MP Rosie Cooper and another is charged with inciting murder.