Left-wing anarchist guilty of terror offences after declaring he wanted to kill MPs
A left-wing anarchist has been found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism by compiling and sharing a bomb-making manual, after declaring that he wanted to kill at least 50 politicians.
Jacob Graham, 20, from Norris Green, Liverpool, dedicated his manual, called the “Freedom Encyclopaedia”, to “terrorists past and future, anarchists etc” and buried bomb-making chemicals in a secret woodland hide.
He wrote a document called “My Plan” in which he said he wanted to kill at least 50 people by attacking government buildings and politicians’ houses.
He also made 138 videos in which he demonstrated explosives and talked about “Judgement Day” and “standing up for working class people.”
On the wall in his bedroom Graham had printed out a picture of a car bomb exploding with the words: “Make politicians afraid to start their cars again.”
The jury at Manchester Crown Court acquitted Graham of planning a terrorist attack but found him guilty of preparing acts of terrorism by writing the Freedom Encyclopaedia, and of disseminating terrorist publications and possession of documents useful for terrorism.
He will be sentenced in March.
‘I have so much carnage to commit’
Graham bought a number of chemicals on the internet and conducted experiments in his back garden before burying some of the ingredients in Formby Woods, recording the location so he could return to the cache.
He also had all the computer files necessary to make a 3D-printed assault rifle called an FGC9 MkII and the printer on which to make it.
Graham came to idolise an American terrorist called Theodore Kaczynski – known as the Unabomber – after watching a Netflix series called Manhunt, and pledged to “finish what he started”, his trial heard.
From a remote cabin in Montana, Kaczynski carried out a 17-year mail bombing campaign, in which he targeted tech academics at universities, killing three people and injuring 23.
A pipe bomb made by Graham
A cache of chemicals was discovered at Graham’s home
He conducted experiments in his back garden
Graham made video diaries in which he recorded himself wearing a headset and speaking into the camera from his bedroom, with a teddy bear on the bed behind him.
He was motivated by a hatred of government, which he saw as oppressing working-class people, and had developed ecological concerns about pollution, destruction of forests, and the exploitation of natural resources.
Wearing a T-shirt and glasses, he said at one point: “I’ve got everything I need to start my revolution.”
Graham told police he was “left-wing” but “more like an anarchist” adding: “I don’t like the idea of a central control and I don’t really like the monarchy.”
His ideal government would be the size of “Merseyside or Liverpool”, he said, adding that he supported the Green Party and was an “environmentalist” who did not like the way that “corporations act and how they damage the Earth.”
“I think it is fair to say I was quite anti-government,” Graham told his trial. “I didn’t agree with the idea of it – the way certain things were handled, the pandemic, the cost of living.
“I didn’t agree with a group of small people being able to make decisions that affect a mass.”
Graham made a series of video diaries from his room
In a video on 21 June, Graham took out a machete with a red handle and tapped the blade, saying: “Can’t end my life yet, I have so much carnage to commit.”
In another video made in his bedroom on 9 August, Graham said: “If terrorism is standing up for what you think is right, standing up for the working class people of this country, most of us can’t afford to heat our homes or afford food, there needs to be someone to fix this problem. It is my responsibility to do this.”
He added: “I will be a homegrown terrorist because I was born on British soil. If they want to call me a justice warrior or a hero, call me that. If they want to call me scum, call me that because I won’t be here to listen to all of it.”
In another video, he threatened to attack Hugh Baird College, which he attended, saying: “I’m f****** ready, f****** bring it. I don’t care, I’ll kill every single last one of them.”
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Encyclopaedia for terrorists
Graham, who lived with his mother, sister and sister’s boyfriend, had downloaded a compendium of terrorist publications including the Mujahideen Handbook and the White Resistance Manual, which he stored in a folder called “Alexandria” after the fabled ancient library.
Graham used Discord and the encrypted Telegram app to communicate with others who shared his hatred of government in groups called Earth Militia, Total Earth Liberation and Neo-Luddite Action.
He shared his manual online – which included instructions on how to build a pipe bomb, gunpowder and plastic explosives, along with detonators and instructions on how the perpetrators could evade the police.
Annabel Darlow KC, prosecuting, told the jury: “The mindset of Mr Graham permeates throughout his written material, messages, and homemade video diaries.
“He wished to bring about the downfall of government and society. He expressed the view that he was sick and tired of living in a society that was deteriorating and destroying itself.”
The 20-year-old had files to make a 3D-printed assault rifle
Chemicals cache
When Graham was arrested on 26 May last year, police found a number of chemicals, each of which could be used as ingredients in various explosive mixtures.
Graham told his trial he felt like a character in a James Bond or Mission Impossible film or The Last Of Us, a post-apocalyptic video game and TV show.
He said he was “doomsday prepping” for “some sort of possible invasion, civil war, martial law, natural disasters, solar flares, floods, things like that”.
The mistaken release of an asylum seeker who was jailed for sexual offences has prompted widespread condemnation – and an extensive police operation.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, had assaulted a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, about a week after he had crossed the Channel and arrived in the UK by boat.
Last night, the teenager’s father was visibly upset as he turned up at HMP Chelmsford – asking for answers on how Kebatu was freed just one month into a 12-month sentence.
He did not want to speak on camera – but told Sky correspondent Mollie Malone that he was “frustrated” at the thought of the Ethiopian national being back on the streets.
“The justice system has let us down,” he said.
Footage has emerged that appears to show Kebatu in Chelmsford town centre following his release – dressed in prison clothes and clutching his belongings in a see-through bag.
He then headed to the railway station and boarded a train bound for London’s Liverpool Street, which departed at 12.41pm yesterday.
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Accidental release ‘damaging’ for government
‘You couldn’t make it up’
Kebatu’s case had a high profile and led to weeks of protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, where he was staying alongside other asylum seekers.
When he was sentenced last month, Judge Christopher Williams warned he posed a “significant risk of reoffending”.
The Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford, Marie Goldman, told Sky presenter Barbara Serra she was “appalled, frustrated and angry about how this could possibly happen in the first place”.
She said it is clear something went “fundamentally wrong” at HMP Chelmsford – and her constituents are “fed up” with systems not working and underinvestment.
“It just destroys trust at a time when emotions are riding high. We’ve seen protests over the past few weeks and months, and there’s a lot of fear out there,” Ms Goldman added.
“It is so easy to lose trust and really hard to gain it – we need the government to get a grip on this.”
Protests were held at The Bell Hotel for several weeks
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp described Kebatu as a “dangerous illegal immigrant” – and said his premature release shows “staggering incompetence”.
He told Sky News: “We also need an urgent apology from Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Justice Secretary David Lammy who have presided over this fiasco.”
Mr Lammy, who also serves as deputy prime minister, has said he is “appalled” and “livid on behalf of the public that Kebatu is at large”.
He confirmed a full investigation is being launched, adding: “He should be deported back to Ethiopia after the sexual assaults that he’s committed.”
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Manhunt continues for Kebatu
Extensive policing operation under way
Multiple forces are now involved in the manhunt for Kebatu – including Essex Police, the British Transport Police and the Metropolitan Police in London.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone told Sky presenter Gillian Joseph that detectives will be carefully piecing together his movements after walking free from HMP Chelmsford.
“All these forces will now be looking at the CCTV from the train itself – trying to locate him on the train and trying to identify at which stop he went off at, and where he went from that station,” he explained.
Mr Wettone said information from Essex Police’s initial investigation – including the contacts, friends and associates he had at the Bell Hotel – will also be a factor.
Questions will also be asked of the prison authorities: “Has he had any visits or phone calls? Has he got any friends or family in the country?”
He added that additional officers will have been allocated to the manhunt: “The Met will have some significant resources looking for him – maybe the Territorial Support Group or additional borough-based officers in and around Liverpool Street first of all.”
The British Transport Police could also be involved in further inquiries if Kebatu ended up travelling on the Underground.
“It really depends on where that thread goes – if they can locate where he got off, and then where he went to,” Mr Wettone said.
“This work is very, very fast-paced – there are detectives and intelligence officers working in the background, chasing up on leads and updating the teams on the ground.”
Experts are warning that without “fast changes” the UK could run out of drinking water in the future.
The first seven months of 2025 were the driest since 1976, with reservoirs across England only 56.1% full on average, according to the Environment Agency.
“I think that we do need to worry about the fact that there is this possibility we could run out,” Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology from Reading University, told Sky News.
“It’s only if we start thinking like that, that we’re going to start conserving our water, otherwise we just take it completely for granted.
“It is all of our fault, we have not been paying attention to what’s going on… we need some very fast changes to the way that we are using water and the way that we’re storing water in order to stop this being a problem in the future, because our summers are only going to get hotter.”
By 2050, the government says that England could face a shortfall of five billion litres of water every day.
‘Growing pressure’ on water system
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said: “This government recognises the growing pressure on our water system and is taking decisive action.
“We’re delivering over £104bn of private investment to fix leaking pipes, build nine new reservoirs and secure our water supply for the future.”
Latest figures suggest that around 2,690 megalitres of water is lost every day in England through leaks – the equivalent of 1,076 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
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‘We have invested an extra £10m’
“Leaks are a really important issue for us. We have invested an extra £10m just to deal with the weather that we’ve seen this summer,” said Dr Geoff Darch, head of strategic asset planning for Anglian Water.
Anglian Water is also hoping to build two new reservoirs in the East of England.
“We don’t want to stop people using water, it is absolutely essential for everything that we need it to do,” Dr Darch said.
“But I think we’ve got to a point now where we have to realise that water is a precious resource, it’s something that we all have to look after so that we have it for future generations and for the environment and with climate change and drought, we will need more reservoirs.”
The government claims it is fast-tracking new reservoirs to address the problem
Concerns about ‘whole system starting to collapse’
In August, the UK received just 62% of its average rainfall, according to the Met Office, which is leading a group of residents to monitor their water stocks closely.
“We collect all our own water from the rain, and so if we don’t have the rain that’s a significant issue,” explained Simon Tilly, director of the Hockerton eco housing project in Nottinghamshire.
He told Sky News they were working together to use less water.
“I suppose I’m most concerned about the whole system starting to collapse. There’s potential for longer droughts and us having a lot of water stress, there’s potential for a lot of floods when the drought finishes… and just generally that system going into random patterns where we’re getting more droughts and more floods,” he added.
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