Man 'was not just online fantasist', court hears

Jordan Richardson, of Oliver Close, Howden, was arrested in December last year

A self-styled "Anglo Jihadi" accused of planning a terror attack was "not just an online fantasist", prosecutors have told a jury.

Muslim convert Jordan Richardson, 21, of Oliver Close, Howden, East Yorkshire, is alleged to have been planning an "atrocity", with possible targets including a shopping centre.

Jurors at Leeds Crown Court heard Richardson "regularly expressed a wish to kill Jews" and joked about going into a synagogue wearing a suicide vest.

Richardson denies preparing for acts of terrorism, the collection of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and distributing terrorist publications.

Richardson was arrested in December last year with instructions on how to make mustard gas and a note which said: "Throw all grenades into crowd; Shoot bystanders; Stab anyone who comes close; Do not get taken alive."

'Homegrown terrorists'

The court heard a possible target of the defendant, whose Instagram accounts included one with the handle Anglo Jihadi, was Meadowhall shopping centre, near Sheffield.

Jurors heard Richardson say he was "playing the character of an extremist" to escape from the rest of his life, where he felt depressed and isolated.

But, in her closing speech, prosecutor Katherine Robinson said there was evidence Richardson "wasn't just an online fantasist" but that he was "going to put his jihadi fantasies into reality".

Ms Robinson said: "He was a man who kept a lethal crossbow and knife in his house, who had a recipe for explosives, who was carrying around a detailed set of notes for how to make a chemical warfare agent.

"In the same bag, a plan to put all these things into effect, having suggested a location three weeks earlier."

Jurors previously heard Richardson posted a video on Instagram of the exterior of Meadowhall shopping centre followed by a brightly coloured clip featuring pictures of rainbows and dolphins, overlaid with the words: "How life feels when you finally give up and just start killing people brutally."

Ms Robinson told jurors: "Sadly we know these days terrorism takes all forms and involves all kinds of people you might not expect.

"We have now what we call homegrown terrorists.

"There is information readily available online for people who, 30 years ago, would have had no idea about how to make a bomb.

"People don't need to travel to other countries to meet people with a similar mindset... This allows people to form networks and encourage extreme views."

The trial continues.

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