An alleged member of the banned neo-Nazi group National Action has appeared in court accused of plotting to murder a Labour MP with a machete and threatening to kill a police officer.
The 22-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court charged with intention to commit terrorism, namely buying a Gladius machete to murder Rosie Cooper, the MP for West Lancashire.
He is alleged to have purchased the machete between 5 June and 3 July. He also faces a charge of a threat to kill a detective constable and of being a member of a proscribed organisation, National Action. He allegedly made the threat on 1 July.
Christopher Lythgoe, 31, also appeared, charged with giving the 22-year-old defendant permission on 1 July to murder Cooper in the name of National Action.
Lythgoe, from Warrington, and four other men were also charged with being members of the organisation.
The other men are: Garron Helm, 24, of Seaforth, Merseyside; Matthew Hankinson, 23, of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside; Andrew Clarke, 33, of Warrington and Michael Trubini, 35, of Warrington.
All men, including the 22-year-old, are charged with being members of the organisation between 16 December last year and 27 September.
Lythgoe and Helm applied to be released on bail, to which Kiernan Cunningham, for the prosecution, objected.
Emma Arbuthnot, the chief magistrate, refused applications for bail and committed the case to the crown court. All men were remanded in custody and will appear at the Old Bailey on 3 November.
In a statement, Cooper said: “I would like to thank everyone involved in this case, especially the counter-terrorism police, for keeping me, my staff and the public safe. There remains an ongoing criminal investigation so it would not be appropriate for me to comment further.”
National Action became the first extreme rightwing group to be banned under terrorism laws on 16 December 2016.
The proscription 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.
In September, Amber Rudd added two National Action aliases to the ban on the neo-Nazi group. In a parliamentary order, it became a criminal offence to belong to or invite support for Scottish Dawn and NS131, sometimes known as National Socialist Anti-Capitalist Action.
Speaking after announcing the ban, the home secretary said: “National Action is a vile, racist, homophobic and antisemitic group, which glorifies violence and stirs up hatred while promoting their poisonous ideology – and I will not allow them to masquerade under different names.
“By extending the proscription of National Action, we are halting the spread of a poisonous ideology and stopping its membership from growing – protecting those who could be at risk of radicalisation.”
At the start of September, two serving members of the British army were among three men charged on suspicion of being members of National Action under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The banned group has held demonstrations in UK cities with banners proclaiming “Hitler was right”.
National Action members have been filmed telling a small group of supporters about “the disease of international Jewry,” proclaiming “when the time comes they’ll be in the chambers”.
