National Action trial – as it happened: Neo-Nazi terrorists wanted to wage 'white jihad' and claimed 'Hitler was right', court hears
Jack Renshaw, 23, denies being a member of National Action after it was banned
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A group of alleged neo-Nazi terrorists wanted to wage what they called "white jihad" and claimed "Hitler was right", a court has heard.
Six defendants on trial at the Old Bailey are accused of continuing preparations for a race war as National Action members after the group was banned by the government in 2016.
Former member Robbie Mullen, who later turned informant, told the court they wanted to achieve a “white Britain by any means necessary...war, anything".
Asked what National Action was against, Mr Mullen said: “Basically everyone...Jews, blacks, Asians, every non-white race.”
Defendant Jack Renshaw has admitted plotting to murder a Labour MP with a machete but denies being a member of National Action at the time.
Jurors heard the 23-year-old planned to kill Rosie Cooper before taking hostages in a pub and targeting a female police officer.
Co-defendants Garron Helm, 24, of Seaforth, Merseyside, Matthew Hankinson, 24, of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, Andrew Clarke, 33, Christopher Lythgoe, 32, and Michal Trubini, 35, all of Warrington, also plead not guilty to membership of a proscribed group.
Prosecutors previously told the Old Bailey the group became the north-west faction of National Action after it was banned for its antisemitic, homophobic and violent ideology in December 2016.
On Wednesday the jury was shown footage of demonstrations before the ban in locations including Newcastle and Liverpool, where National Action members made antisemitic speeches and performed Nazi salutes, while carrying banners reading "Cleanse Britain of Parasites" and "Hitler was right".
A police testified that a man filmed giving a speech calling on white men to "stand up and set our people free" was Mr Hankinson.
"Blood must be shed, the blood of traitors, the blood of our enemies," he said.
The Old Bailey heard the group underwent combat training at their gym in Warrington and at woodland camps.
As the proscription approached, Mr Lythgoe allegedly wrote members an encrypted email saying they were merely "shedding one skin for another".
Mr Mullen told the jury the "name was gone but the people would still meet up. The purpose was still the same, the politics was still the same".
The informant, who was at a meeting where Renshaw revealed his plan, said he was in earnest and the defendants took him seriously.
Mr Lythgoe allegedly suggested he target Amber Rudd, then the home secretary, instead of his local MP and Mr Hankinson suggested a synagogue.
But Mr Mullen said Renshaw dismissed both and told how he planned to get himself killed by police and leave a "white jihad" video detailing his reasons.
The trial continues.
The last National Action demonstration before the group was proscribed came in Darlington on 5 November 2016.
Mr Fletcher, who was among the officers policing the event, said Mr Clarke and Mr Lythgoe were among around 50 members at the event
"Mr Hankinson seemed to be the main gentlemen who was orchestrating the group," he added.
Mr Fletcher is giving evidence on National Action's use of training camps in rural areas.
He said the first attended by its members was called a "culture camp" in Wales' Brecon Beacon in August 2014, followed by another event in Derbyshire.
Videos played tot he court show members training in hand-to-hand combat and boxing.
Mr Fletcher says the group initially payed to join camps run by fellow neo-Nazi groups Sigurd and Western Spring but from 2016 started looking to recruit members who could conduct trianing themselves in order to save money.
The court hears Mr Hankinson and Mr Lythgoe can be seen training in mixed martial arts in the second video, which ended with the slogan: "Join the white gang."
Defence lawyers for My Lythgoe and Mr Hankinson have been asking the police officer additional questions on his recollection of their appearances at various National Action protests.
Robbie Mullen, a former member of National Action who turned informant for Hope Not Hate and warned them of the plot to kill Rosie Cooper, has taken the stand
He says he started to become interested in the extreme right-wing as a teenage and joined National Action in 2015.
Mr Mullen says both he and all five defendants in the dock remained members after it was banned by the government as a terrorist group in December 2016.
Mr Mullen, who was known as Andy Brown, says he first contacted Hope Not Hate in April 2017.
"It was partly the direction things were going in," he tells the court. "I hoped to get out of the organisation."
Asked what National Action was against, Mr Mullen says: "Basically everyone...Jews, blacks, Asians, every non-white race."
He says they wanted to achieve a "white Britain by any means necessary...war, anything."
Mr Mullen says the first National Action leader he met was defendant Chris Lythgoe, who he emailed and met in Warrington after being given his encyrpted email address by another member called Wayne Bell he knew through the National Front.
Mr Mullen said he met Mr Lythgoe and Mr Hankinson at early meetings.
He said they met at pubs in Warrington, Preston and Manchester. "It was a bonding kind of thing," he adds.
The judge has sent the jury for a lunch break and the evidence will resume at 2pm.
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