A 22-year-old neo-Nazi has been jailed for 13 and a half years after being caught in an MI5 sting operation in east London, the BBC reported. Alfie Coleman was arrested after undercover agents lured him to a Morrisons car park in Stratford, where he collected a Makarov pistol and 200 rounds of ammunition in September 2023.
Coleman, a supermarket worker from Great Notley in Essex, was described in court as a "militant accelerationist" who had been radicalized online beginning at age 14. He was convicted of preparing terrorist acts at the Old Bailey in April.
Jurors at the trial saw footage of Coleman dropping £3,500 in a Land Rover and picking up a holdall containing the handgun and ammunition from the boot of the vehicle. Moments later, armed counter-terrorism police confronted him and he lay on the ground.
Judge Richard Marks KC described Coleman's views as "virulently racist" and branded him a "dangerous offender." Coleman appeared tearful in court and wiped his eyes with a tissue as the judge made his remarks.
Investigators found a manifesto in Coleman's diary. Potential targets listed included the Lord Mayor of London and a mosque. His manifesto drew inspiration from several extremist mass killers, including Dylann Roof, the U.S. church mass murderer, whom Coleman regarded as "warriors." Coleman also idolized Thomas Mair, the extremist who murdered Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016.
Two days before Coleman was due to pick up the Makarov, he wrote in his diary: "Something has gotta be done, how long can we sit here and talk over the internet?" That same day, he ordered a Gerber Strongarm knife with a 4.8-inch blade online.
A search of the home he shared with his parents in Tailors Close found a device to detect bugs and cameras in his bedside drawer, a rock with a swastika on it, a black sun flag associated with neo-Nazism on the wall, and several knives. Authorities had first noticed Coleman's extreme views in summer 2023 as he became increasingly active in far-right online groups. He had earlier pieced together a plan to attack a mosque in France, which was later abandoned.
Coleman told the court he had been lonely and struggled with his mental health during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Probation officers found in pre-sentence reports that he posed "a high risk of serious harm to the public" and found it unlikely "his feelings, which were evidently quite deeply rooted, would change completely."
