Leamington Spa homemade sub-machine gun builder jailed

West Midlands Police said the evidence in Ben Styles' case was "extremely concerning"

A man has been jailed for eight years after he was found building a sub-machine gun in his garage.

Ben Styles, 24, of Leamington Spa, had earlier been cleared by a jury of preparing to carry out a terrorist act.

But he was sentenced after pleading guilty to possessing material that could be used for terrorism purposes and for possessing a prohibited weapon.

Birmingham Crown Court was told Styles was found building the gun by police during a search of his home.

The defendant had acquired tools including a lathe and a drill press and was trying construct the weapon when officers arrived, West Midlands Police said.

He was arrested and at a previous hearing admitted three charges of possession of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

The items included right wing material, police added.

Police found gun parts when they raided Styles' home

Prosecutor Matthew Brooks told the trial Styles had travelled to New Zealand shortly before the mosque attack in Christchurch in 2019.

He had become fascinated by the man behind the attack, collecting his manifesto and a video of the massacre.

But Styles denied engaging in conduct in preparation for a terrorist act and was found not guilty of the offence after a trial.

Assistant Chief Constable David Gardner said he had an obsession with far right ideologies and the evidence in the case "was extremely concerning".