Bookshop terror plot 'raised memories of 1930s Germany'

William Howitt had claimed he was drunk and under the influence of drugs when the plot was written

A former British soldier who glorified Adolf Hitler has been jailed for four and a half years for preparing a terrorist attack in Nottingham.

William Howitt's trial heard he described himself as a neo-Nazi, with prosecutors saying he targeted the Five Leaves bookshop because he held views "strongly opposed to the things that [it] was associated with".

The "radical" bookstore supports black and LGBTQ+ writers and has a specialist Jewish interest section.

A military-style "Plan A" was found on the 27-year-old's iPhone:

• Entry - "glass breaker on large glass window pains [sic]"

• Destruction - "three 5 litre jerry cans of petrol to douse books and upholstery with petrol, test petrol/diesel for safest way of ignition without detonation…"

• The escape - "leave through tarpaulin trap shadow the second ignition is successful. Swift walk hugging the old brick work west towards the Brian clough [sic] statue. Continue north towards un popular [sic] bar with small queues. Enter said club and dispose of outer layer of clothing in roof tiles in toilet…"

• The message - "swaztika [sic] and 'tread carefully' mural will be sprayed if practical, time permitting 'white lives matter' and 'smash Marxism'"

His trial also heard he messaged a contact saying he needed a firearm for something "politically driven and anti-Marxist".

So how did Howitt go from serving his country to plotting a terror attack?

The Five Leaves bookshop supports black and LGBTQ+ writers and has a specialist Jewish interest section

He had been on the authorities' radar for several years.

At age 14, he attended a meeting of the far-right English Defence League (EDL) and was referred to the Prevent counter-extremism programme.

After joining the Army, he spent six years in the prestigious Grenadier Guards regiment, and boasted of being in their sniper platoon.

But during his time as a serving solder, he was linked to the banned neo-Nazi group, National Action.

When he left the Army in 2018, police say his extremist ideology "solidified".

'Dedicated to violence'

He was identified by a whistleblower, who worked with Matthew Collins from the anti-racism group Hope not Hate.

Mr Collins said Howitt was connected to, "if not a member of", National Action.

"It's from that organisation, post-proscription, where a lot of their ideas have seeped out," he said.

"He's not the first and he's not going to be the last. He was active with National Action after its proscription.

"As far as we're aware, he [Howitt] attended a meeting in Nottingham in 2017, where a number of senior figures of National Action were in attendance and have all since been convicted… and he was amongst a group that went drinking during the day after their meeting and attacked a [different] radical left-wing bookshop - they threw a smoke bomb in there.

"Far-right and neo-Nazi supporters follow their hero Adolf Hitler in burning books and burning down libraries - one of the things people don't understand about the extreme far-right is… they also target those in society, so people that own radical bookshops that sell text they don't like.

"It's an ideology that's totally committed and dedicated to violence."

Det Insp Chris Brett, who has been involved in investigating terrorism since 2009, said Howitt was "a significant danger to society"

The plan was uncovered after police stopped Howitt at East Midlands Airport on 5 January.

They seized his iPhone and discovered "Plan A", along with extremist messages and screengrabs of the Five Leaves bookshop.

On 14 March, he was arrested outside his parents' home in West Bridgford, about a mile from the bookshop, and later charged under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

Officers said in the hours around the writing of the plan, Howitt went online and purchased the tools he would need.

A search of his former home by counter-terrorism police uncovered a glass hammer and tarpaulin sheet.

Police said Howitt's plan involved using his "former military knowledge and training"

Det Insp Chris Brett, who led the investigation for Counter Terror Policing East Midlands, said Howitt's plan was to "further his right-wing, racist and extremist" ideology.

"His intention was also to leave significant amounts of right-wing and Nazi graffiti supporting his national socialist view of the world and try and impact on society that way," he said.

"It was a coherent plan, it has structure to it... and is clearly not the work of someone who is singularly drunk or coming up with a fantasy.

"It's that danger to the rest of society of attempting to use violence to change the way people lead their lives - that's what the terrorism risk is here.

"It would be easy to misunderstand the risk and see arson and a bookshop and think this is a relatively minor matter, and this really isn't the case. This is a significant terrorist plot and posed a significant risk to society."

Howitt was originally arrested near his parents' home in March

For Nottingham's relatively small Jewish community, this sort of plot has disturbing roots.

Norman Randall, from the Nottingham Liberal Synagogue, said: "The actions of what Jews do or do not do, or what Muslims do or do not do, or the LGBTQ+ community, is not the determinant here. It's all about the hater, it's all about the racist.

"All I can say is thank goodness the authorities caught up with him.

"It's irrational but nevertheless it could have dire consequences. It beggars belief but there are plenty of people out there.

"[Howitt's plot] raises memories of the 1930s in Germany when there were public book-burnings. Any works by Jews tossed on to a fire. It's a horrible reminiscence of that."

Norman Randall said the plot "beggars belief"

Ultimately, the plot came to nothing. Judge Paul Farrar KC said there was no evidence that Howitt took any further action to carry out a plan that he described as "inept".

In a statement, the Five Leaves bookshop said he "succeeded only in damaging his own life".

In a victim impact statement read out in court on Wednesday, bookshop owner Ross Bradshaw said customers had been supportive but the matter had been "hanging over" staff since March.

He said: "With thousands of titles, we'd be surprised if every customer liked all our books. Our commitment to diversity runs with the grain of bookselling.

"But if you don't like our books just walk away, don't plan to burn us down."