Man who built bombs at Bristol home after spewing anti-Muslim hate escapes terror charge

Facebook page belonging to Matthew Glynn, 37, contains anti-Islam and far-right posts

Glynn pleaded guilty to explosives offences and will be sentenced in December (Facebook)

A man who spewed hate against Muslims and migrants online before building explosives at his home was not charged with terror offences because officials decided there was “insufficient evidence” of his motivation.

Matthew Glynn, 37, built devices including a makeshift grenade and cylinder bomb in Bristol.

He has pleaded guilty to five counts of making an explosive substance and is due to be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court next month.

The prosecution did not allege that Glynn was planning to use the homemade bombs in an attack, but his Facebook posts indicate anti-Muslim and extreme right-wing views.

The last public post, from February 2017, was a cartoon of a baby holding a sword, with the caption “English born, English bred, 100% English and proud”.

Glynn shared numerous videos from the anti-Islam Britain First extremist group, which has since been banned from Facebook and had its leaders jailed for religiously aggravated harassment.

He also shared anti-immigration memes and videos from Russia Today on the refugee crisis, as well as a post by Knights Templar International.

The group describes itself as a “militant, defensive Christian Chivalric Order” fighting the “threats we face today globally from radical Islam, liberalism, political corruption, cultural Marxism and anti-Christian bigotry”.

Glynn’s online “likes” included numerous pages devoted to weapons and military memorabilia, including an axe manufacturer.

He also followed Facebook pages called “World Against Islamism”, “Stop Islamification Wake Up World” and “Exposing Islam”, while sharing memes supporting bans on full-face veils and preventing schoolchildren from visiting mosques.

Glynn was arrested after the bombs were found at his home in Filton Avenue, Bristol, in July.

Residents in surrounding homes were evacuated for four days as military explosive ordnance units disposed of the devices.

They included a tennis ball filled with low explosives, which police said could be thrown like a grenade, a hand-held device covered in ball bearings and a cylindrical bomb.

A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Glynn was charged with making an explosive device, possession of a regulated substance and possession of a prohibited weapon. There was insufficient evidence to charge any terrorism offences.”

The Independent understands that a direct link between the views indicated on Glynn’s Facebook page and his bomb-making activity could not be proven, meaning the case fell short of the bar set for prosecuting terror plots.

The Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism as threats or action with the purpose of “advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause”.

The case comes as the security services intensify their focus on the threat posed by anti-Islam extremists.

In an unrelated prosecution, a man appeared in court on Tuesday charged with plotting a terror attack on Muslims.

Terror investigations have hit a record high of 700 in the UK and the head of the National Counter Terrorism Policing Network has warned that Islamists and the far right are “feeding each other”.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu recently told MPs that around 80 per cent of investigations by police and MI5 were looking into Islamist jihadis and 20 per cent “other”, including a “significant proportion from the right wing”.

“The overriding threat to the UK remains from those inspired by Isis and the resurgent al-Qaeda, but our operations reflect a much broader range of dangerous ideologies, including very disturbingly rising extreme right-wing activity,” he added.

Mr Basu said 13 Islamist and four extreme right-wing plots had been foiled since the Westminster attack in March 2017.

The atrocity was followed by the Isis-inspired Manchester Arena bombing, London Bridge attack and Parsons Green bombing, and the Finsbury Park attack.

Darren Osborne ploughed a van into Muslims leaving Ramadan prayers at two mosques, after becoming radicalised by anti-Islam and far-right material he consumed online.

The most recent statistics on terror arrests show that the number of white suspects being detained has overtaken those of Asian appearance for the first time in more than a decade.

White suspects accounted for 38 per cent of terror-related arrests, followed by those of Asian appearance on 37 per cent and black suspects on 9 per cent in the year to June.

The demographics of terrorists in prison, where Islamists make up the majority, is also changing, as the number of far-right extremists jailed rises.