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 hearing has resumed and Mr Mullen, a former National Action member, is continuing to give evidence on his relationship with the defendants.
He says he met Jack Renshaw, who had admitted plotting to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper, at a National Action protest in Liverpool in November 2015 and then at regular meetings in pubs
Mr Mullen says Renshaw was particularly against "the Jews...he described them as vermin."
He tells the court Renshaw made speeches at events and on YouTube
Mr Mullen says he first understood defendant Mr Lythgoe, who denies giving Renshaw permission to launch the terror attack, to be the organiser of the north-west National Action group but he then became the group's nationwide leader
Jack Renshaw has admitted plotting to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper
Mr Mullen describes Mr Hankinson as Mr Lythgoe's "number two" and said he was a regular attendee at meetings after the ban, when he appeared to be in charge of security.
Mr Mullen says the group communicated face-by-face and using encrypted Tutanota emails and the messaging apps Telegram and Wire
He says he met Mr Clarke and Mr Helm at a November 2015 demonstration in Liverpool, and Mr Trubini shortly before. He then saw them all at regular meetings at a pub and at their gym in Warrington
Mr Mullen says he became an organiser for the north-west National Action faction - one of eight regional divisions - for a time in mid-2016.
He says one of the ways the group communicated was a chat group on the Wire app in the name of "PewDiePie fanclub". PewDiePie is a Swedish YouTube personality who has the most suscribed channel on the platform.
The court is being shown an email where Mr Lythgoe allegedly declared himself leader of National Action in November 2016, a month before it was banned.
He sent a leadership diagram to regional leaders reading: "Leader - me: I have the final decision on everyhting but I’ll always listen to everyone."
Asked whether that was his true position, Mr Mullen says: "Yes, he decided everything...for something to happen, people would ask him."
Mr Lythgoe is accused of giving Renshaw permission to murder Rosie Cooper MP and telling him "don't f*** it up", but denies the charge
In another email, Mr Lythgoe allegedly laid out National Action's structure in more detail. Mr Mullen says it "stayed the same" after the group was banned:
He put himself in the ideology, propaganda, self-defence training and camps categories, Mr Clarke for ideology and legal, Mr Hankinson for demo tactics and Mr Helm for camps. Mr Mullen was put down for demo tactics and legal issues in the November email, which was sent one month before the group was banned and five before he turned informant for Hope Not Hate, the court hears
Mr Mullen is being asked about the physical training National Action members underwent.
He tells the court that members including himself and the defendants practiced boxing at the Hook and Jab gym in Warrington, then moved to practice mixed martial arts at the Apex MMA gym, where they additionally learnt to use Kali combat sticks. In December 2016, the month the group was banned, he said Mr Lythgoe and Mr Trubini moved to hire their own space in Warrington.
Mr Mullen says he was also aware of at least four training camps held elsewhere, which were allegedly organised by defendant Mr Helm.
He tells the court he saw a video of one in the Lake District where National Action members practiced knife fighting with rubber weapons and wrestling.
"Someone tried to do a pull-up in the video on a tree but they couldn’t, it was a bit embarrassing," he adds.
Mr Mullen says he was first aware the government was going to ban National Action about a week before it was proscribed on 16 December 2016
He says he received an email from Mr Lythgoe on 11 December saying the group would "keep moving forward exactly how we have been", and one the day after to himself and other regional organisers telling them to reassure members and adding: "We are just shedding one skin for another."
Mr Mullen expressed concern about police action in a string of emails to Mr Lythgoe but the leader claimed the "whole group" would be able to continue by operating underground without the name National Action, and by splitting into regional factions to evade authorities.
In January 2017, Mr Mullen said the defendant "said we were going to maintain the people, get to the gym and train".