A Nazi-sympathiser who planned to blow up a number of mosques has today, 1 May 2014, been jailed.
Ian Charles Forman, 3/1/72, of Shavington Avenue, Oxton, Birkenhead, was convicted of Engaging in Conduct in Preparation of Terrorist Acts contrary to Terrorism Act 2006 after an 11 day trial at Kingston Crown Court.
He was today sentenced to 10 years imprisonment
Forman first came to the attention of police in April 2013 while he worked as a receptionist at Manisty (Recresco Ltd), a glass recycling firm in Ellesmere Port.
Colleagues found that he had been researching chemicals and explosive substances on the internet during work hours ⿿ a clear breach of company policy.
He was called in for internal disciplinary meetings, during which he claimed his research was for his hobby of making home-made fireworks.
Unconvinced by his answers, the company called Merseyside police and his house was searched.
Inside they found chemicals including potassium nitrate, sulphur and charcoal, a crude home-made improvised explosive device (IED) and a replica Nazi uniform.
Forman was arrested and interviewed by officers from the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit and admitted having extreme right wing views in his youth but claimed he no longer thought like that.
Officers had also seized a number of computers and other devices and later found more incriminating material.
This included internet research into a number of Merseyside mosques, video clips showing Forman experimenting with explosives and an anti-Islam video created by Forman himself.
Detective Sergeant Matt Findell, of the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit, said: "Thankfully, we will never know how far Forman was prepared to go in acting out his racist fantasies.
"However, we do know that Forman had carefully selected a number of targets to meet his own means. Had he carried them out, his attacks could have caused considerable damage to both property and people at several Mosques.
"The North West Counter-Terrorism Unit has extensive experience of investigating individuals and groups who hope to threaten, intimidate and attack people for their own twisted political ends.
"We have demonstrated once again with today's result that we will use every means at our disposal to protect our communities."
