Self-styled ‘Anglo Jihadi’ guilty of planning attack on shopping centre

From Sky News

A gym instructor who called himself the “Anglo Jihadi” has been found guilty of planning a bomb and chemical attack on a major shopping centre.

Jordan Richardson, 21, a Muslim convert from Howden, East Yorkshire, was convicted after he was caught carrying around a recipe for mustard gas in his rucksack. Richardson also had a link to an ISIS bomb-making video used by the Manchester Arena bomber, showing how to make the high explosive TATP.

He was arrested on his way to work in nearby Goole on 19 December last year, carrying a backpack containing handwritten notes on pieces of notepaper.

One read: “Reach hidden vantage point, apply gas mask, outfit, load crossbow, throw all grenades into crowd, shoot bystanders, stab anyone who come close, do not get taken alive.”

When police searched Richardson’s home, they found a combat knife in a sheath and a crossbow purchased from an online store called SuperGuns UK on 12 August for £35.95.

He operated Instagram accounts in his own name but later adopted the name Abu Bakr al Aziz and the username Anglo Jihadi, Leeds Crown Court was told.

In online messages, Richardson said he wanted to conduct jihad and kill infidels and called himself a terrorist. In one message, he wrote: “Inshallah, I pray to be a jihad and to be martyred for Allah.”

In November, he suggested an attack on the Meadowhall shopping centre near Sheffield, one of the largest in the country, to another user.

In October last year, Richardson said he wanted to get married and to study to become a high school teacher so that he could radicalise children.

Katherine Robinson, prosecuting, told the jury that “one of the features of the defendant’s mindset was that he regularly expressed a wish to kill Jews”.

While on remand in prison awaiting trial, Richardson told a prison officer that he was a supporter of the Islamic State.

Richardson was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism by acquiring weapons, researching explosive substances, identifying possible locations, and considering the steps required for an attack. He was also found guilty of three counts of encouraging terrorism and two counts of possessing bomb-making instructions useful for terrorism. He will be sentenced next month.