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

Defendants in the National Action terror trial at the Old Bailey from left to right Garron Helm, Michal Trubini, Andrew Clarke, Matthew Hankinson, Christopher Lythgoe, and Jack Renshaw (SWNS)

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.

Key Points

• National Action members wanted to wage 'white jihad' and start race war, court hears
• Former member Robbie Mullen tells jury defendants wanted to eradicate non-white races from Britain 'by any means necessary'
• Mr Mullen says defendants remained National Action members after group was banned as a terrorist organisation
• Jury shown footage of National Action protests with members carrying banner reading 'Hitler was right' and performing Nazi salutes
• Alleged leader Christopher Lythgoe denies giving member permission to murder Labour MP with a machete
• Mr Lythgoe 'said Jack Renshaw should target Amber Rudd instead', court hears

[13 June 2018 15:51 · Lizzie Dearden]

Mr Mullen says the north-west division of National Action continued its activities after the group was banned. Members got the keys to their new training gym the following January and opened it within a month.

The lease was in Mr Trubini's name but the rent came out of Mr Lythgoe's account.

An email from 9 January allegedly shows Mr Lythgoe arranging a National Action meeting in Warrington with a new recruit from St Helen's. He said there were other regular meetings following that date, adding: "It was always the same place, the same people, the same purpose."

Another email from Mr Lythgoe's account said the group was meeting new recruits through "that website", which Mr Mullen said referred to the Daily Stormer, an American neo-Nazi site.

[13 June 2018 15:54 · Lizzie Dearden]

After the ban, Mr Mullen says: "The name was gone but the people would still meet up. The purpose was still the same, the politics was still the same."

He is now being asked about the meeting at the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington on 1 July last year, which he says was called by Mr Lythgoe

[13 June 2018 16:05 · Lizzie Dearden]

Mr Mullen says that after Renshaw arrived, he started "going on about his ongoing legal issues".

"He was on about how the police were giving his trouble, coming to his family’s house saying he was around minors and making him out to be a paedophile," he adds.

Mr Renshaw allegedly told associates he was facing seven years in prison for hate crimes over speeches.

"He said he wasn’t going to prison and he was going to kill his local MP, Rosie Cooper. "He said he’d planned it all out and he wasn’t going to prison no matter what.

"He was going to kill her and then try to take some hostages and lure the police officer who was investigating him to him and kill her"

[13 June 2018 16:12 · Lizzie Dearden]

Mr Mullen said Renshaw told the group he planned to be killed by police by going outside with a fake suicide vest on and being shot.

"He was saying it to the group, to us all," he added, saying alleged National Action leader Mr Lythgoe "was happy, he was smiling, he was just nodding his head.

"He asked him was he sure and Jack said he was sure and he’d thought it through, then Chris said to him 'make sure you don’t f*** it up."

[13 June 2018 16:15 · Lizzie Dearden]

Mr Mullen tells the court that Mr Lythgoe "suggestsed Renshaw do Amber Rudd, the home secretary" but he dismissed it saying she would be too well-protected and he had his plan already.

Renshaw allegedly said he was going to make "a white jihad style video saying what his reason would have been".

"Chris said you could do it in the name of National Action as a comeback," Mr Mullen says.

"Mr Hankinson suggested a synagogue as a target…he said 'what about a synagogue?'

"I said there might be kids and you don’t really want to kill kids and he replied saying all Jews are the same, they’re all vermin."

[13 June 2018 16:31 · Lizzie Dearden]

Mr Mullen says he had previously contacted Hope Not Hate because he wanted to "get out" of National Action and informed the group of Renshaw's threat the following morning. They informed former employee Ruth Smeeth, now a Labour MP, and she warned her colleague Rosie Cooper.

Mr Mullen says Hope Not Hate paid for a passport so he could go to Ireland for his safety, and said the group later paid his rent and living expenses during the police investigation. He now works full-time for Hope Not Hate.

Asked whether he had been told what to say, Mr Mullen says "no, it's what happened". He has signed an agreement with the prosecution for immunity from terror charges including terror funding and membership of a proscribed group, in exchange for his cooperation.

[13 June 2018 16:32 · Lizzie Dearden]

The jury is now being sent away for the day and the trial will resume tomorrow morning at 10.30am.