Jack Coulson[1]
On 26 July 2016, 17 year-old National Action member Jack Coulson was arrested for posting material online to stir up racial hatred. Following his arrest a house search was carried out and a pipe bomb and XRW items were found in his bedroom.
Coulson was charged and at the conclusion of his trial in January 2017 he was found guilty under Section 4 of the Explosives Act, and not guilty under Section 5 TACT. He was sentenced to a three year Youth Rehabilitation Order.
At the time of his trial the Judge commented that Coulson was one of the most dangerous young men he had ever dealt with.
Coulson continued to demonstrate extreme views in his meetings with support workers. Prior to his involvement with Right Wing Extremism Coulson was known to police for minor antisocial behaviour and arson offences. At trial, it was disclosed Coulson was socially isolated and on the autistic spectrum.
At trial Coulson claimed to have self-radicalised online and he is now outspoken and fixated on his extreme views. Coulson makes statements apparently to shock or draw attention from others, and has made inflammatory comments online regarding the murder of MP Jo Cox.
ERWT in 2012 and 2019: A comparison
32. MI5 and CTP provided a comparison of the ERWT threat as it was assessed in 2012 and then in 2019:
| Key differences[2] | |
| 2012 | 2019 |
| Police hold primacy for what is then termed 'Domestic Extremism'. MI5 is not involved.[3] | MI5 now have primacy for high priority investigations and leads regarding Extreme Right Wing Terrorism. |
| The Extreme Right Wing Terrorist threat is assessed to be LOW, indicating that an attack is 'unlikely'.
It is assessed that Potential Lone Actors present a greater threat than Right Wing Terrorist groups. |
The likelihood of an Extreme Right Wing Terrorist attack in the UK is assessed to be 'a realistic possibility'.
It is assessed that lone actors present the greatest risk. |
- ↑ CTP summary of work on Domestic Extremism prior to the OIR - Written evidence, 31 January 2020.
- ↑ MI5 Strategic Intelligence Group paper, 20 March 2019.
- ↑ In the past, the role of policing in strategic public disorder intelligence traditionally sat within the local 'Special Branch'. In 2010, the National Domestic Extremism Unit (NDEU) was formed, creating one national unit with the aim of fulfilling the requirement of Public Order and Domestic Extremism intelligence and reducing duplication between the existing units. In 2011, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) took over responsibility for 'Domestic Extremism' intelligence—initially as a temporary measure in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic Games—with the unit being renamed the National Domestic Extremism & Disorder Intelligence Unit (NDEDIU) and then in 2016 being permanently subsumed into the Counter Terrorism Policing Operations Centre.
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