Student who posted antisemitic content found guilty of plotting to blow up Newcastle police station 

A student was found guilty of plotting to blow up a Newcastle police station this week.

Luke Skelton, nineteen from Washington, was convicted at Teesside Crown Court of preparing to commit acts of terrorism.

The jury’s decision came after a previous panel failed to reach a decision.

The court heard that Mr Skelton absorbed far-right ideology whilst researching bomb-making. The student, between the dates of October 2020 and October 2021, carried out a “hostile reconnaissance” of Forth Banks police station in Newcastle, in which he would take photographs and conduct searches for CCTV cameras, whilst he was a student at Gateshead College.

Nicholas De La Poer KC, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Skelton had professed an admiration for Adolf Hitler and Oswald Mosley, and that searches for neo-Nazi content were discovered on his devices. The prosecution said that Mr Skelton posted antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, and other racist and sexist comments online. 

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, the Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “The defendant’s anger towards society, together with his extreme right-wing views, created a dangerous foundation from which his sinister plans were ultimately built.

“He was strongly motivated by this mindset, which continued to fuel his actions and his later offending, despite repeated attempts to draw him away from it. The evidence clearly demonstrated that he was not just a person who held strong views but a terrorist who wanted to cause serious harm.

“It is more important than ever that everyone plays their part in tackling terrorism. We have seen from this case that terrorists research and sometimes visit the places they plan to attack.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism closely monitors the far-right, which remains a dangerous threat to the Jewish community and other minority groups.

Image credit: Counter Terrorism Policing North East