Counter Terrorism Policing has urged parents and guardians to be alert to the signs of radicalisation after a 22-year-old man was jailed for planning a terrorist attack, having begun to be radicalised online at the age of 14, the force stated.
Alfie Douglas Coleman, of Essex, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Wednesday 8 July to 13 and a half years in jail with a further five years on licence, and must serve at least two thirds of the custodial period in prison. He was found guilty of preparation of terrorist acts on 30 April following a trial at the Old Bailey.
A joint investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing London and MI5 identified that Coleman was plotting to buy a gun through online contacts on extreme right-wing terrorism forums. Officers became increasingly concerned about his activity in the summer of 2023, and further enquiries, supported by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, established he was attempting to acquire firearms to carry out an attack in support of his ideology. He arranged to purchase a Makarov pistol and ammunition, unaware that he was in contact with an undercover operative.
Coleman travelled to Stratford in east London on 29 September 2023 carrying £3,500 in cash, exchanged it for a bag containing the gun and ammunition, and was surrounded and arrested by officers seconds later. He was questioned over several days while detectives analysed his digital devices.
Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, was quoted in the press release as saying: “It is extremely concerning that such a young person was planning to murder innocent members of the public as part of an extreme right wing terrorist plot. But thankfully Counter Terrorism Policing, working with our colleagues in MI5, were able to intervene and arrest him before he was able to harm anyone, and I have little doubt that the brilliant work of all involved has prevented what could have been a real tragedy.”
She added: “What is particularly concerning is that Coleman was radicalised online from when he was just 14 years’ old, and sadly we’re seeing more and more examples of young people and children being drawn into violent extremism and terrorism this way. This is why I’m urging parents and carers to make sure that you are aware of what your children are doing online. While it may be difficult, it is vital that you have conversations with them, and if you are still concerned, then ACT Early and get in touch, so that they can be steered down a different path before it is too late.”
Examination of his devices recovered extremist and terrorist-related documents alongside a manifesto-style diary written by Coleman, setting out his grievances and his plans to carry out an attack. Evidence dated back as far as 2019, when he was 14, and detectives found he had downloaded a notorious extreme right-wing text in November 2020 at the age of 16, followed by further extremist material and manuals on making and using weapons and explosives.
Charged on 11 October 2023, Coleman pleaded guilty to ten counts of collecting or possessing information likely to be useful for terrorism under section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and to attempted possession of a firearm and ammunition, receiving 10 years and two months to run concurrently. He will also be subject to a Part 4 notification order requiring him to share personal information with police for 30 years.
Counter Terrorism Policing points anyone concerned about a person close to them toward the ACT Early website or the support line on 0800 011 3764, where specially trained officers can be contacted in confidence.
What worries me here is the people previously described as far right, including Nigel Farage.
BY THE GOVERNMENT.
Anyone slightly right of centre is Far Right according to Labour or BBC/Sky News. I remember when Boris Johnsons conservatives were constantly called Nazi or far right by unwashed left wingers even though they were one of the least right wing conservative governments in history 😂
If they’re Islamofascists, then fine; anyone who doesn’t accept the Islamization of the country is far-right. You have to accept the caliphate without question, or else you’re Hitler’s reincarnation according to the endophobic leftists.
Didn’t understand a word of that and I don’t think I want to.
It pretty easy to understand actually. What he is trying to say that is if you dare criticise the many failings of islam and how they are incompatible with UK culture and norms, you are somehow evil for doing so. Its why Labour is always trying to sneak in these blasphemy laws “ahem” excuse me I meant anti islamophobia legislation to simply silence people that call out that medieval religion
Not that complicated
Don’t even try. This is what the ramblings of a radical look like. Totally disconnected from reality and projecting everyone who disagrees with them as holding straw man extreme views. Ironically, the exact thing they are accusing their imaginary “Labour or BBC/Sky News” and “leftists” opponents of doing. They have convinced themselves that they are victims and that everyone else is out to get them.
Exactly, it’s the same s**t Islamic extremism uses as well, convince young men about the infidels and promote jihad.
Old bigoted men that don’t have the ball’s to do anything themselves but are quite happy to radicalise young men then claim they are only sharing their opinions.
Oh we are all far right now. As the song goes. Now go and hang up your portrait of Mussolini. 🤣
Well if Reform was not caught out as many of the members were in terms of racists , then Reform should not be a problem , they were caught out, and I class myself as centre right.
Come on Ann Widdecombe was brutely bludgeoned to death (poor lady) by allegedly a far left wing extremist that was also allegedly targeting Reform MPs. Then to create a straw man argument about Reform being racist is just too much when the problem in the UK is far left extremists. We should all hang our heads in shame that a little old lady is brutely murdered in this way as we the British people have created the conditions for this in the UK by not enforcing crime and punishment (i.e., this government releasing prisoners earlier including rapists, murderers and violent prisoners including those that have brutally attacked and killed police officers) and not recognizing the evils of the extreme far left. Now we have further examples in history of far left wing extremist violence and totalitarianism such as: Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Hitler, Kim ill Sung….the list goes on. Who do you think the real threat to the UK is now? I would suggest Islamo-Leftism is an existential threat to the UK just like is was in Iran in 1979. We are starting to see signs of Islamo-Leftism organizing, protesting and committing acts of violence. The best way of dealing with far left extremism is to highlight to the young the dangers of this ideology through education of its evil history – people are often fooled by socialism in this way. However, many people are fooled into compliancy because the extreme far left speak the language of helping the less fortunate in society when their true motives are to have the state manage every aspect of people’s lives and pit one group against another…classic divide and conquer to create the conditions for anarchy and social revolution just like in North Korea, Russia, China, etc. However, please go ahead and just talk about the theoretical issues of racists in reform…I’m sure many others on this comment board would probably agree with you and not me….but that doesn’t make you morally right.
The problem is extremism of all types
Umm Hitler was far right mate..
Some far left SCUM were actually celebrating her death, including an ex Labour MP who went to the Greens.
Standard.
The enemy within.
Frogface is far right
I’m surprised this and similar articles aren’t under CRIME.
So am I.
A guy is convicted by a jury for terrorist offences after being radicalised by online Nazi’s and all the comments in here are how people feel persecuted for their right wing beliefs 🤦♂️
Not really different to all the lefty Hamas supporters.
Just so the muppetry understands this man was convicted by a jury following an investigation by the police. The government was not involved.
Nazis were socialists.
today they call them far right of course. Next…Lenin, Mao and Pol Pot will be far right.
That’s because the Nazis were evil far right arse wipes of human beings, just as Stalin and Pol Pot were evil far left arse wipes of humanity…
So it’s about being “far” and thinking some other groups of people are less due to some made up random shite.. like, colour, belief or just not agreeing with you.
The National socialist party was literally the epitome and model of the far right..
Racial Hierarchy: Believed that people’s worth is based on race, identifying the “Aryan” race as superior and targeting others for destruction.
Ultranationalism: Promoted extreme devotion to the nation and aggressive territorial expansion.
Rejection of Equality: Opposed the basic left-wing ideal of social equality, instead favoring a strict, enforced social and racial order.
Persecution of the Left: Banned communist and social democratic parties immediately and sent left-wing politicians to the first concentration camps.
Destruction of Unions: Outlawed independent trade unions and replaced them with a state-run front controlled by the Nazi party.
Corporate Cooperation: Preserved private property and worked closely with large private industries and business leaders who supported the regime.
That’s your template for the far right..
Effectively – the USSR.
Not a lot of difference apart from the nationalism (that is not “right wing”).
All authoritarians have a number of characteristics.. one of them is pretending they are better… But hilter came from that from the far right, Hitler was far right, he believed in white people being better, he believed in business and profit over the people and radical nationalism.. he hated socialism and rounded up all the socialists and killed them… to say he is not far right is an interesting interpretation of history..
So radical islam is now far-right?
It’s religion based extremism but it shares some characteristics with the far right
strict social hierarchies, rigid gender roles, fierce opposition to pluralism, though they originate from a different context, they have a number of the same characteristics.. bizarrely just as the far right and left share some characteristics
authoritarianism, dogmatism, and intense rejection of pluralism in mainstream society..
Funny really how all the evil cunts all end up doing the same thing.. far right, far left, religious extremism of all types.. they all end up rounding people up and causing misery for millions… for what they think are right and moral reasons… never trust those who know their view is better.
There was a time (maybe early 2000s through to after the 2012 olympics, when I honestly thought the world was creeping towards being more open and tolerant. Far from perfect and still much to worry about, but just maybe things would keep slowly getting better.
Despite the other world issues going on, its this article which has made me feel the loss of that hope. This is homegrown hatred that started when he was a child not that long ago. Right now, this feels like a harsh truth, that the hatred and division we see around the world is still growing here at home as well.
To be clear – I’m not just pointing the finger at the far right here, but this just feels closer to home for me as I often work with children in Essex so the sense of connection is greater perhaps.
Funny thing is most murders of politicians in Europe and the Uk are committed by right wing nut jobs. Including uk MPs Joe Cox and David Amis. Although the left is villified, it is the Right who hate and kill. The bloke who killed Ann Widdicombe is a lonely, sad man with mental health problems. I have not read if he is left or right wing. All murders are disgraceful, but when people like Farage stirs up racial hatred, both sides can kill. Not a good thing in a future prime minister.
No they were all killed by nutters, each sad lonely individual was radicalised by a different group and used as a weapon.. radical religion, far right and far left all promoted the use of fear and violence to promote the power of their belief systems for the benefit of the few who control them..
It is frankly bizarre how “they “always make a massive song and dance about any lone deranged loon who from within their bedroom plots some nefarious act. They love to promote it as if it’s wide spread and in every town and city in the land with untold thousands just sitting in front of their computers planning a mass death event.
A study by the Fondation pour l’innovation politique shows between 1979 and 2024 there have been 66,872 recorded Islamic terror attacks across the globe resulting in 249,941 deaths worldwide. ( it’s a pity I can’t post the link due to my post then not being shown) with France being the most affected European target with 85 attacks and 334 killed in these attacks.. The report is extremely detailed and well worth a read.
However random lone crackerjacks in their bedrooms make a better government preferred right wing threat narrative for the headlines than the very real ideological and organised threats that do exist .