LONDON: Three men in the UK have been convicted of planning terror attacks on mosques and synagogues.
Christopher Ringrose, 34, Marco Pitzettu, 25, and Brogan Stewart, 25, were sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday. They will serve a combined total of 29 years in prison.
The trio were arrested by counterterrorism police after plotting an attack on an Islamic education center in the city of Leeds in 2024.
Officers found they had amassed a cache of more than 200 weapons, including machetes, swords and crossbows. Ringrose had also made parts for a semi-automatic FGC-9 Mk II firearm using a 3D printer, which was close to being completed.
Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC said the three wanted a race war and adhered to “an extreme right-wing Nazi ideology,” and that the firearm would have been “used to devastating consequences.”
He added that they were actively trying to recruit people and source other weapons to form a militant group using right-wing online communities, with Stewart, the self-appointed leader, telling undercover police officers in a group chat: “I want to get my own group together because action speaks louder than words.”
Officers successfully penetrated the group in January 2024. Later that month, in a group call, they discussed a plan to “cruise around” looking for “human targets” near an Islamic education center in Leeds, “do whatever we do, then back … for tea and medals and a debrief.”
The jury heard they also planned to acquire uniforms and had discussed other targets, including mosques and synagogues. They made plans to “hang out, bring ourselves closer together and just cement that brotherhood” on Feb. 18, having never previously met in person.
Officers detained them on Feb. 20 when they believed the attack was imminent.
Sandiford said the trio decided to attack the center in Leeds with the “intention to commit acts of extremism which involved killing multiple victims.”
Jurors rejected claims that the three were fantasists with no intention of attacking anyone and convicted them of preparing acts of terrorism and of collecting information likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism. Ringrose was also convicted of manufacturing an illegal weapon.
The presiding judge, Mrs Justice Cutts, said she believed the three still adhered to their far-right ideology.
Stewart, from West Yorkshire, was sentenced to 11 years in jail. Ringrose, from Staffordshire, was sentenced to 10 years. Pitzettu, from Derbyshire, was sentenced to eight years.
The head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, DCS James Dunkerley, said the three “idolized the Nazi party, they’ve glorified mass murders, and they share a hatred of groups such as the Jewish community and the Muslim community.”
He added: “I genuinely believe had we not taken action, this group could’ve carried out a violent attack and the consequences of that attack could’ve been fatal.”
