Man who plotted MP murder will not face National Action retrial

Jack Renshaw, 23, bought a 19in (48cm) Gladius knife to kill the West Lancashire MP and a female police officer against whom he had a grudge, the Old Bailey heard.

The plan was scuppered by whistle-blower Robbie Mullen, who was at a meeting in the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington town centre when Renshaw announced that he was going to kill Ms Cooper.

The group met at this Warrington pub

It came just a year after Labour MP Jo Cox was stabbed and shot by a fellow far-right extremist, Thomas Mair.

Renshaw, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, had admitted making preparations to kill his local MP in 2017 and making a threat to kill police officer Victoria Henderson who was investigating him.

But he denied membership of banned extreme right-wing group National Action along with Andrew Clarke, 34, from Prescot and Michal Trubini, 36, of Dutton Court, Howley.

A jury deliberated for more than 48 hours but was unable to reach verdicts on any of the defendants on which at least 10 of them were agreed following a retrial.

Mrs Justice McGowan discharged the jury today, Tuesday, after being told there was no prospect of the jury reaching any verdicts if given more time.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC told the court that after careful consideration a decision had been made not to seek a third retrial.

WHO ARE NATIONAL ACTION >

National Action's hate-filled race warriors peaked at around 100 nationwide, of whom 11 have been convicted of being members since the group was banned.

Founded in late 2013 by university students Alex Davies and Benjamin Raymond, it was based on neo-Nazi ideology and hatred of members of Jewish, gay and ethnic minority communities.

It targeted Britain's disaffected male youth through slick online propaganda set to an electro-pop soundtrack.

Pc Matthew Fletcher told jurors at the Old Bailey: "Part of white supremacy is preparation for the race war in their eyes, in their ideology."

The far-right group drew heavily on the virulently racist rhetoric and symbols of Adolf Hitler's Nazi party.

The black and white logo featured on flags was similar to that of Hitler's brown shirts.

Recruitment was via the internet and through the distribution of leaflets at flash demonstrations.

Davies was removed from Warwick University due to the sticker propaganda campaign there.

Stunts by activists included the desecration of the statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square, placing a banana in his hand.

Propaganda videos of demonstrations across England and Scotland showed men in skull masks waving banners and making Nazi salutes.

National Action was banned for promoting the murder of Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox in tweets which called for her killer Thomas Mair's "sacrifice" not to be in vain.

But whistle-blower Robbie Mullen told the court: "The politics was still the same - free white man. The group had gone, the name had gone, but the people were still meeting."

WARRINGTON MAN WAS LEADER >

Leader Christopher Lythgoe, 32, of Greymist Avenue, Woolston was said to be in charge of propaganda and Mixed Martial Arts training.

He "decided everything", even instructing members to dress all in black at demonstrations, Mr Mullen said.

When he learned of the ban, he told members they had "shed one skin for another" as he took the organisation underground.

Christopher Lythgoe

He promoted self-defence at his gym for "whatever happens, if there was ever the race war", according to Mr Mullen.

He said: "Chris would do the basics and it would just be normal boxing, punching a bag and sparring."

READ MORE > Lythgoe jailed for being part of terror group

Jack Renshaw, 23, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, was accused of being the speech-maker and spokesman.

He had a particular hatred of Jewish people and described them as "vermin", the court heard.

Renshaw was investigated for inciting racial hatred in speeches and was due to answer bail days before he revealed his plot to kill his local MP Rosie Cooper.

He was later convicted at Preston Crown Court of stirring up racial hatred and jailed for three years.

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It can now be reported that Renshaw is a convicted paedophile who was jailed for 16 months last year for grooming boys online.

He told his friends that his main aim was to exact revenge on the police officer in his case and die "by cop" rather than face jail.

Matthew Hankinson, 24, of Newton-le-Willows, was in charge of "security" and was for some time Lythgoe's "number two".

Other convicted National Action members included Midlands leader Alex Deakin, 23, from Birmingham.

Darren Fletcher, 28, of Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, and Adam Thomas, 22, and his partner, Claudia Patatas, 38, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, had a meeting with Renshaw in Liverpool on July 1 - the day he revealed his plot at the Friar Penketh.

WHO IS TRUBINI? >

Howlet office worker Trubini, who qualified as a teacher in Slovakia, admitted a shared ideology about white nationalism and opposition to multiculturalism.

The defendant met Lythgoe at a Sigurd camp, trained with him at a gym in a lock-up in Howley, went to Friar Penketh meetings, and attended demonstrations, jurors heard.

But he said: "I would not jeopardise my job to be a member of a group that had no real impact."

Trubini insisted he was "politically naive" and having tried to read Mein Campf, found it "boring and badly written".

The defendant, who was not at the July 1 meeting, went by the name Will Parry after a character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials in encrypted chat.

He bought a Nazi flag in 2015 on a "spur of the moment" when he was exploring national socialism, adding: "My approach to subjects is more intellectual and more detached."

SENTENCING >

A jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for 48 hours but failed to reach verdicts on whether Renshaw was a post-ban member of National Action along with Andrew Clarke, 34, and Michal Trubini, 36.

As she discharged the jury from returning verdicts, Mrs Justice McGowan said: "You have obviously worked very hard. You have obviously been very diligent. You have obviously worked your way through all the material so we understand and respect the decision you have made."

She remanded Renshaw into custody to be sentenced on May 17.