A sixth form student from Brighton who drew up plans for a suicide bomb attack on a local synagogue has been jailed for eight years for terrorism offences.
Mason Reynolds, 19, from Moulscoomb was a student studying bricklaying and roofing and doing part-time labouring work on the side.
He lived with his parents and was described as leading “in many ways, a not untypical existence of a young man in his late teens”.
However, Naomi Parsons, prosecuting, told Winchester Crown Court that Reynolds was a neo-Nazi who believed the white race was “destined to dominate the rest of mankind”.
She said Reynolds “does not find himself here because he has political, racial or ideological views that some may find distasteful or indeed abhorrent”.
“He is here because he has not just held those political, racial and ideological views, he has acted on them.”
When Reynolds was arrested, police found a note on his phone created on 7 May 2023 entitled “Enough Larping” – a call to action that referred to ending his “live action role play”.
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The note included a 13-second video from Google Maps showing the exterior of Hove Synagogue, and Reynolds had listed its address and the CCTV cameras and fire exits.
He added: “Possible buzzer to get into the building, 1 camera on left side (side entrance locked by gate).”
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On another image he had marked “quickest and efficient way in”, adding: “Could be good for surprise attack.”
Reynolds had attached images of synagogues in Missouri and Washington in the US and in Edinburgh as “examples of what to expect inside”.
Underneath he had written: “The Jewish holidays that tend to have the most people in synagogues are Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover.”
In June, Reynolds produced an image on a video app called CapCut with the words “Make Jews Afraid Again”.
Later on the same day, a discussion took place on Telegram with another teenager using the sign-on AR15 – a reference to an assault rifle.
Reynolds told him: “I wanna strap multiple pipe [bombs] to my chest and blow myself up inside a synagogue… I have a plan.”
Without identifying his target, he told the other user: “They won’t let me through the buzzer door if suspicious, like Stephan Balliet” – a reference to a German-born neo-Nazi who used homemade weapons to kill two people, after failing to get into a synagogue in Halle, Germany, in October 2019.
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Police also discovered Reynolds had copies of the Mujahideen’s Explosives Handbook, the Terrorist’s Handbook, and the Anarchist Cookbook on his computer, along with files used to make a 3D printed assault rifle called the FGC-9.
Reynolds was one of two administrators for the “Far-Right Sigmas” channel on the Telegram app, a neo-Nazi propaganda channel which was set up in late November 2022 by “AR15” in Poland.
The channel promoted the view that society was in decay and the fault lay with Jewish people who controlled the financial institutions, the media and encouraged immigration, resulting in the “dilution” of the white race.
The channel had nearly 350 subscribers and produced content that glorified Nazis including Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Heinrich Himmler, leader of the Waffen SS, as well as far-right killers including Anders Breivik, Brenton Tarrant, and Dylann Roof, who killed nine black people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.
“It hoped, it seems, to create neo-Nazis of the future,” Ms Parsons said.
One of the clips circulated by Reynolds featured Stephan Balliet, who livestreamed his attempted attack with homemade rifles and bombs.
Speaking of Tarrant, who livestreamed an attack that killed 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, Reynolds commented: “It’d be 10x better seeing Jews get killed.”
In the channel’s chatroom, Reynolds also distributed videos of the Christchurch attack, and Breivik’s attack in Norway in 2011, which killed 67 people.
Much of the material on the channel was edited from propaganda produced by an organisation called Atomwaffen Division, a US based terrorist organisation banned by the UK government in July 2021.
Reynolds pleaded guilty to four offences of possessing material useful for terrorism and five offences of distributing material likely to encourage terrorism. He was found guilty of possessing an article for terrorist purposes.
After his arrest, Reynolds told police he was hurt that his friends viewed him as someone who was “all talk and no action” and wanted them to stop calling him a “LARP” – live action role player.
He had written the note in 15 minutes, forgot to delete it and thought no more about it, he said.
Jailing Reynolds for eight years with an extended licence of five years, Mrs Justice May accepted that he did nothing to carry his plan and that his “secret life” was now out in the open.
But she said she considered him “dangerous” and added: “These ideas are immensely attractive, to young men in particular, and while only a small fraction of those who hold these beliefs act on them, the consequences are catastrophic as history has shown.”
A man has died and 10 people, including five children, have been rescued after a landslide as Storm Bert batters the UK.
A “multi-hazard event” of snow, rain and strong winds caused chaos and disruption on Saturday, with several weather warnings set to remain in place all weekend.
Separate yellow weather warnings for wind are expected to come into force from 11am on Sunday across Northern Ireland and from midday across the Scottish Highlands, with the Met Office warning delays to rail, air and ferry transport are likely.
Hampshire Police said a man in his 60s died after a tree fell on to a car on the A34 southbound near Winchester on Saturday morning.
The force said it was investigating whether the incident was linked to the weather. A yellow warning for rain and wind was in place across the area.
In North Wales, five adults and five children were rescued from a house after a landslide.
A spokesman from the North Wales Fire and Rescue Services said all 10 people were being assessed by ambulance crews away from the scene in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, near Llangollen.
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A further landslide was reported in the area, but it is understood no one else was affected.
In Ireland, at least 11,000 properties were without power going into the evening due to the impact of the storm.
Electricity company ESB Networks said earlier on Saturday at least 60,000 homes, farms, and businesses had been left without power due to the weather.
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Severe flooding in Irish street
“Crews will continue working late into the evening to restore power to most customers currently without supply,” it said.
“While we are doing everything we can, it is anticipated that some customers will be without supply overnight.”
The National Grid’s Electricity Distribution network which connects directly to homes and businesses in the Midlands, South West England and South Wales, confirmed there were 4,345 properties without power.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said his department would be “keeping in close touch with the energy companies”.
A Met Office spokesperson said winds of up to 82mph were recorded in Wales and 13cm of snow fell in Staffordshire on the first day of the weekend.
Two areas in Ireland were issued a rare red warning for heavy rain, which expired at 10am.
London, East Anglia, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Hull and swathes of the Midlands are the only parts of the UK with no current weather warnings in place.
The weather also brought significant disruption to attractions and events, with Edinburgh Zoo and Glasgow Christmas Market closed on Saturday.
Also in Scotland, Perth and Kinross Council cancelled its annual Perth Christmas lights switch-on event over safety and travel concerns.
Blackburn Rovers postponed their Championship match against Portsmouth due to “torrential rain” which made the pitch “unplayable”.
A ‘multiple-hazard event’
Met Office meteorologist Jason Kelly described Storm Bert as a “multiple-hazard event”. Looking towards Sunday, he said rain is expected to become “particularly heavy and persistent”.
Accumulations of 50-75mm are expected to fall across the UK, with some places experiencing up to 100-150mm, Mr Kelly said.
He added: “Rapid melting of lying snow over the weekend may bring flooding for some. Multiple National Severe Weather Warnings are in place and will be added to and amended over the weekend.”
Going into next week, the Met Office predicts sunny spells and showers.
The forecaster says rain and strong winds may reappear on Wednesday, spreading northeast across England and Wales.
Where the warnings are and when
South coast – A yellow warning for wind is in place for the entire south coast of England from 9am until 9pm on Sunday, with a slight chance of damage to buildings and power cuts.
South West – From 6am, a yellow warning for rain is in place in the southwest of England, from Cornwall up to Oxford and stretching to Portsmouth. This is in place until 11.45pm.
Wales – Heavy rain is likely to cause some travel disruption, particularly in South Wales, with a yellow warning across the country lasting 24 hours from 6am this morning.
Midlands, north and Scotland – A yellow warning for rain and snow reaching from Stoke and Nottingham up to all of Scotland started at 4am and stays in place until 9am on Sunday. Manchester, Liverpool and Hull are not affected.
Northern Ireland – A yellow warning for wind comes into force from 11am on Sunday until 6pm, bringing with it the potential of travel disruption.
Scottish Highlands – A second warning will last from midday to midnight on Sunday.
What the weather warnings mean
• Yellow – people are advised to check the details of the forecast and consider extra steps to minimise any impact, while disruption is likely, particularly for travel
• Amber – disruption is more likely and more widespread and people are advised to change plans impacted by weather
• Red – reserved for very dangerous weather that can pose a danger to life and cause substantial travel disruption
The UK is on a “slippery slope towards death on demand”, according to the justice secretary ahead of a historic Commons vote on assisted dying.
In a letter to her constituents, Shabana Mahmood said she was “profoundly concerned” about the legislation.
“Sadly, recent scandals – such as Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office Horizon – have reminded us that the state and those acting on its behalf are not always benign,” she wrote.
“I have always held the view that, for this reason, the state should serve a clear role. It should protect and preserve life, not take it away.
“The state should never offer death as a service.”
On 29 November, MPs will be asked to consider whether to legalise assisted dying, through Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
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Minister ‘leans’ to assisted dying bill
Details of the legislation were published last week, including confirmation the medicine that will end a patient’s life will need to be self-administered and people must be terminally ill and expected to die within six months.
Ms Mahmood, however, said “predictions about life expectancy are often inaccurate”.
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“Doctors can only predict a date of death, with any real certainty, in the final days of life,” she said. “The judgment as to who can and cannot be considered for assisted suicide will therefore be subjective and imprecise.”
Under the Labour MP’s proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
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However, Ms Mahmood said she was concerned the legislation could “pressure” some into ending their lives.
“It cannot be overstated what a profound shift in our culture assisted suicide will herald,” she wrote.
“In my view, the greatest risk of all is the pressure the elderly, vulnerable, sick or disabled may place upon themselves.”
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who put forward the bill, said some of the points Ms Mahmood raised have been answered “in the the thorough drafting and presentation of the bill”.
“The strict eligibility criteria make it very clear that we are only talking about people who are already dying,” she said.
“That is why the bill is called the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’; its scope cannot be changed and clearly does not include any other group of people.
“The bill would give dying people the autonomy, dignity and choice to shorten their death if they wish.”
In response to concerns Ms Mahmood raised about patients being coerced into choosing assisted death, Ms Leadbeater said she has consulted widely with doctors and judges.
“Those I have spoken to tell me that they are well equipped to ask the right questions to detect coercion and to ascertain a person’s genuine wishes. It is an integral part of their work,” she said.
In an increasingly fractious debate around the topic, multiple Labour MPs have voiced their concerns.
In a letter to ministers on 3 October, the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed “the Prime Minister has decided to set aside collective responsibility on the merits of this bill” and that the government would “therefore remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the matter of assisted dying”.
“Immediate action” is being taken after blueprints of jail layouts were shared online.
The maps detailing the layouts of prisons in England and Wales were leaked on the dark web over the past fortnight, according to The Times.
The detailed information is said to include the locations of cameras and sensors, prompting fears they could be used to smuggle drugs or weapons into prisons or help inmates plan escapes.
Security officials are now working to identify the source of the leak and who might benefit from the details.
The Ministry of Justice did not disclose which prisons were involved in the breach.
A government spokesperson said in a statement: “We are not going to comment on the specific detail of security matters of this kind, but we are aware of a breach of data to the prison estate and, like with all potential breaches, have taken immediate action to ensure prisons remain secure.”
The leak comes amid a chronic prison overcrowding crisis, which has led to early release schemes and the re-categorising of the security risks of some offenders to ease capacity pressures.