A gym instructor who called himself the “Anglo Jihadi” has been found guilty of planning a bomb and chemical attack on a major shopping centre.
Jordan Richardson, 21, a Muslim convert from Howden, East Yorkshire, was convicted after he was caught carrying around a recipe for mustard gas in his rucksack.
Richardson also had a link to an ISIS bomb-making video used by the Manchester Arena bomber, showing how to make the high explosive TATP.
He was arrested on his way to work in nearby Goole on 19 December last year, carrying a backpack containing handwritten notes on pieces of notepaper.
One read: “Reach hidden vantage point, apply gas mask, outfit, load crossbow, throw all grenades into crowd, shoot bystanders, stab anyone who come close, do not get taken alive.”
A second note contained the ingredients and instructions on how to make mustard gas, a chemical warfare blister agent that can be fatal if inhaled.
Richardson was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism by acquiring weapons, researching explosive substances, identifying possible locations, and considering the steps required for an attack.
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He was also found guilty of three counts of encouraging terrorism and two counts of possessing bomb-making instructions useful for terrorism. He will be sentenced next month.
‘Real-world threat’
Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter-Terrorism Policing North East, said: “Jordan Richardson was preparing to conduct an attack on members of the public, and to become a martyr to others who share his ideology.
“This case shows the real-world threat that terrorist content online poses, and how quickly people who view this content can radicalise themselves.”
Bethan David, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Richardson was a “dangerous individual” intent on “causing violence in the name of his ideology”.
Richardson ‘wanted to carry out jihad’
When police searched Richardson’s home, they found a combat knife in a sheath and a crossbow purchased from an online store called SuperGuns UK on 12 August for £35.95.
While on remand in prison awaiting trial, Richardson told a prison officer that he was a supporter of the Islamic State.
He operated Instagram accounts in his own name but later adopted the name Abu Bakr al Aziz and the username Anglo Jihadi, Leeds Crown Court was told.
In online messages, Richardson said he wanted to conduct jihad and kill infidels and called himself a terrorist.
In one message, he wrote: “Inshallah, I pray to be a jihad and to be martyred for Allah.”
In October last year, Richardson said he wanted to get married and to study to become a high school teacher so that he could radicalise children.
If he did not manage that, he would travel abroad to fight jihad. He wrote he had contacted a Syrian fighter on Telegram and talked about travelling to destinations, including “Palestine, Syria and Iraq in furtherance of his extreme ideology”, according to police.
Katherine Robinson, prosecuting, told the jury that “one of the features of the defendant’s mindset was that he regularly expressed a wish to kill Jews”.
He converted to Islam the day after Ramadan in April last year, and his interest in Islam developed into a focus on extremism, the prosecutor said.
‘Just start killing people brutally’
Richardson joined the extremist group Islamic State, shared material that encouraged terrorist activity, and gave advice on how to become involved in terrorism, the prosecutor added.
He stated he wanted to establish the caliphate, to fight and live under Shariah law, and shared ISIS videos featuring violence, including beheadings.
Richardson also talked about the need to get weapons and discussed making 3D firearms, including how to make the metal parts with hand tools.
In November, he suggested an attack on the Meadowhall shopping centre near Sheffield, one of the largest in the country, to another user. He also shared a video of the shopping centre with the graphic overlaid: “How life feels when you finally give up and just start killing people brutally”.
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Ms Robinson said he was “considering possible locations for an attack” and “proactively” suggesting Meadowhall shopping centre as a target.
In December, he shared a link to the ISIS bomb-making video used by the Manchester Arena bomber, showing how to make TATP, saved screenshots for the recipe on his iPhone, and looked up the ingredients of TATP, including hydrogen peroxide.
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Richardson also expressed homophobic views, including that LGBTQ people were a “cancer on the country”, and shared ISIS videos threatening gay people and adding: “Me coming to Goole Pride tomorrow – it’s a joke don’t worry.”
He told the court he was working at a gym in Goole and spending time looking at extremist material on his mobile phone while on reception.
His mother had moved away, he had split up with his girlfriend and he would spend his time in his flat playing on his X-box games console and chat online.
