The Muslim News - Neo Nazi who talked of ‘dead Pakis’ jailed for terror plot

Issue 243, Friday 31 July 2009 - 9 Sha'ban 1430

Neo Nazi who talked of ‘dead Pakis’ jailed for terror plot

By Elham Asaad Buaras

A neo-Nazi who planned a terrorism campaign against ‘non-British’ was found guilty of terrorism and seven offences under the Explosives Act on July 15. Neil Lewington, 43, who once told a woman “the only good Paki was a dead Paki” had been on the verge of carrying out his murderous mission in the name of white supremacy when he was caught by chance carrying two bombs on a train.
The racist, who stored bomb-making items in his bedroom wanted to emulate his idols including London nail bomber David Copeland and Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh.
Calling himself the Waffen SS UK, he designed shrapnel bombs which he planned to hurl into the homes of Asian families.
His plan was discovered by chance when police uncovered two incendiary devices and a bomber’s manual in his bag after arresting him for urinating at a railway platform on October 30, 2008.
Police later found drawings of electronics and a cocktail of explosive at his Reading ingredients including weed-killer, firelighters, firework powder, electrical timers and detonators.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner, John McDowall, insisted there was no information on Lewington’s possible targets. He told The Muslim News, “Whilst our inquiries did not uncover any details about intended targets, we do not underestimate the impact that Lewington’s actions and extremist beliefs may have had on communities nationwide.”
Lewington had extreme views on race and ethnicity. The prosecution told the court he had told one woman on chat lines that “the only good Paki was a dead Paki”.
Lewington also kept video footage about bombings in Britain and America as well as fascist literature including a handbook for ‘Waffen SS UK members’ which he wrote himself. In it, he set out his vision for a neo-Nazi team, saying: “A new group has been formed, the Waffen SS UK. We have 30 members split into 15 two-man cells. We are highly trained ex-military personnel and will use incendiary and explosive devices throughout the UK at random until all non-British people as defined by blood are removed from our country. This is no joke.”
Lewington spent 18 years working for an electronics firm installing circuit boards until he was sacked for being drunk.
In a statement to The Muslim News Crown Prosecution Service Counter Terrorism Division reviewing lawyer, Bethan David, said, “This case also clearly demonstrates that we will use terrorism legislation to prosecute where it is appropriate to do so according to the facts of the case, no matter what the background or motivation of the defendant.”
He added that material collected proved “Lewington was a real threat.”

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