Neo-Nazi who had home 'armoury' and discussed terror attack against LGBT group jailed
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A neo-Nazi who amassed an "armoury" at his home and discussed an attack on a LGBT group has been jailed for 10 years. Alan Edward, 55, was detained after armed police swooped in on his house in Redding, Falkirk, in September 2022. Police Scotland said a number of weapons were seized.
A court was told officers recovered items including a crossbow, machetes, a tomahawk, a samurai sword, knuckledusters, a catapult, an extendable baton and a stun gun. Fourteen knives were discovered, and some were adorned with Nazi and SS insignia. They also found an air pistol, an SS-style skull mask, goggles and a respirator, fighting gloves with hardened knuckles, pellets, ball bearings, and hunting tips for crossbow arrows.
Prosecutors argued this amounted to "an armoury". Former Police Scotland superintendent and counter-terrorism expert Martin Gallagher said it was fortunate the force was able to snare Edward before he followed through with any of his threats. He noted how Edward "idolised" neo-Nazi mass murderer Anders Breivik, who killed eight people with a car bomb in Oslo and shot dead 69 others at a Norwegian Labour Party youth camp on the island of Utoya in 2011.
Speaking to Sky News' Scotland correspondent Connor Gillies, Mr Gallagher said: "I would not put someone who is acting alone on a different level from a group - they can be just as deadly.". Edward was said to have come to the attention of counter-terrorism officers after posting a video of a National Action rally held in 2016 - shortly before it became the first far-right group to be proscribed in the UK under the Terrorism Act.