In the past few days two men in different parts of the country have been jailed for wanting to murder Muslims.
Vincent Fuller knifed a man in a West London Tesco car park because he wanted to “murder a Muslim” and was jailed on Tuesday for more than 18 years.
Fuller, 50, stabbed Dimitar Mihaylov, 19, in Stanwell, the day after the Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand.
Fuller admitted trying to kill the teenager, who suffered defence wounds to his hand when he was attacked through his car window in the supermarket car park. Fuller left the scene but was arrested by armed officers.
Earlier on the night he was heard shouting: “All Muslims should die. White supremacists rule. I’m going to murder a Muslim.”
He also praised the actions of Brendan Tarrant, the Australian man accused of carrying out the attacks in Christchurch, and had watched a livestreamed video of the attack. He posted on Facebook: “I agree with what that man did in New Zealand as we will not be brainwashed.”
Judge Peter Lodder ruled it was a terrorist act, motivated by the cause of white supremacy and anti-Muslim sentiments.
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Though he pleaded guilty, he claimed he had no historic links to a terrorist cause, and said his actions stemmed from family problems.
Fuller had left his maisonette in Stanwell armed with a Chelsea FC baseball bat which he used to bang on the door of his neighbour Paramjit Bansal, who is of Indian heritage.
CCTV footage played in court showed Fuller in a hoodie and cap swinging the bat and shouting: “Come out you black c***.” He was also caught on CCTV walking up and down Town Lane swinging his bat at those inside passing cars, hitting one so hard he broke the bat.
Meanwhile, a Blackpool man who threatened to kill Muslims with weapons he kept at home, including a homemade stun gun, was also jailed.
Darren Dale was visited by police on 14 February after expressing extreme right wing views.
He told officers he had watched online videos on making explosives and about his plans to attack Muslims, Lancashire Police said.
The 41-year-old was jailed at Preston Crown Court for three years and four months.
He had previously pleaded guilty to threats to kill and attempted possession of a prohibited weapon.
During the police visit in February, he showed them “several weapons” including a steel bar from a dumb bell, a knife and two stun guns – including one that he had made himself, a force spokesperson said.
Dale boasted that his “Taser” was as powerful as a police version and that he would simply need to connect it to a battery for it to work.
Officers later found more weapons at his home, including a black plastic block with wires sticking out.
Det Supt Will Chatterton, head of investigations at the counter terrorism policing for the North West, said: “Dale’s intentions were thwarted long before he could ever carry them out.”
He added: “It’s horrifying that an individual planned to carry out a pre-empted venomous attack intending to harm people because of their religion.”