Neo-Nazi teenager who planned to throw homemade bombs at Durham synagogues can be named
A court has ruled that a neo-Nazi teenager who planned to throw homemade bombs at Durham synagogues can be named.
Jack Reed, 18, can be named after his bid for anonymity was rejected by a court.
Last January, Mr Reed was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to six years and eight months in prison after being found guilty by a unanimous jury of preparation of terrorist acts between October 2017 and March 2019. He has also been given a separate custodial sentence for unrelated child sexual offences against a schoolgirl.
Mr Reed, who is from Durham, had begun drafting a manifesto titled “A Manual for practical and sensible guerrilla warfare against the kike system in the Durham City area, Sieg Heil”. Other items seized from his home included a copy of Mein Kampf and material on explosives and firearms.
The prosecution claimed during the trial that the defendant had become “an adherent of neo-Nazism – the most extreme of right-wing ideology”, noting that he had written in his diary on the occasion of Hitler’s birthday that the Nazi leader was “a brave man to say the least. Although maybe having written proof that I admire their number one enemy isn’t such a wise idea. I will however say that I one day hope to follow in his footsteps.”
Mr Reed’s anonymity was due to expire on his eighteenth birthday, which fell on Christmas Eve, but an extension was granted following a request to continue the restrictions, which, after the latest legal proceedings, has now been denied. The defence claimed that there would be a “huge negative impact” on the teenager – who is undergoing mental health assessments – and his family, if his identity were revealed.
At a hearing at Manchester Crown Court, the judge reportedly ruled that the Crown Court had “no power…to make the order sought”. In fact, the judge even ruled that there was no power even to have made the short extension.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.
