Police smash UK white supremacist ricin plot

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Police smash white supremacist terror plot to poison ethnic minorities with ricin
By Paul Sims
06th June 2009

Police have smashed a global terror plot by white supremacists aimed at poisoning ethnic minorities with the deadly poison ricin. They discovered the lethal toxin in a sealed jam jar after a six month investigation ended with dawn raids on two properties in County Durham. Two men were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 and were yesterday being quizzed by officers over their involvement in a worldwide plot. It is feared they planned to use it as part of a biological weapon against ethnic minorities in the UK.

Officers discovered traces of ricin in a kitchen cupboard of a terraced home in the former mining village of Burnopfield and believe it may have been stored there for up to two years. The two men held by officers – former lorry driver Ian Davidson, 41 and his 18 year old son Nicky – are being held at a secure location in West Yorkshire.

Since the former pub DJ's arrest forensic officers have been examining Davidson's property. Nicky was held on suspicion of inciting racial hatred following a swoop at his home in Grampian Court, Annfield Plain. However, he has since been re-arrested and is also now detained under the Terrorism Act in West Yorkshire.

Durham’s assistant chief constable Mike Barton said: ‘This shows that the terrorist threat in the UK is real and present.’ He said he expected further arrests to be made as inquiries spread across Britain - and abroad. ‘The tentacles of this are worldwide,’ he said. 'We believe the people involved to be white supremacist extremists and one of our lines of inquiry was that they were going to target people from ethnic minorities.White supremacists seem to hate an awful lot of people.’ He added: ‘This will spawn an awful lot of intelligence which will then kick start other criminal counter terrorism inquiries elsewhere.’

The two properties raided were searched as part of long running counter terrorism operations involving MI5 and other agencies. They had been monitoring access to internet websites containing information which is ‘unhelpful to public safety’. Mr Barton said the discovery of ricin came as a complete surprise. 'We did plan for such an eventuality as this, although we didn't expect it,’ he admitted.

The fatal agent, for which there is no antidote, is 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide and an amount the size of a grain of salt is enough to kill an adult. The presence of the toxic - which is extracted from castor oil beans - was confirmed by a government laboratory in Edinburgh. Ricin can cause major organ failure and fatal collapse of the immune system if eaten or breathed in, although it is said to be difficult to manufacture it to 'weapons grade'.

The home of the two men was still cealed off last night. Forensic officers wearing protective clothing are expected to be there for at least another week. The jam jar will now be transferred under police escort to the Ministry of Defence establishment at Porton Down, where scientists will establish its strength.

In 2005, Algerian Kamel Bourgass was jailed for 17 years at the Old Bailey for plotting a ricin attack in the UK, although none of the poison was found. The last recorded death from the toxic was in London in 1978, when dissident Georgi Markov was shot in the leg with a poisoned pellet by Bulgarian agents.

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I don't believe that there was any massive plot in this - there's loads of nutters out there who could and would make the poison (or get hold of weapons) just to validate themselves. I hope I'm right...

[pmusicman]

Thank God that in Glasgow we have such a cool cosmopolitan city with the tolerance that prevails. We're not always perfect, but in the main the old socialist principals are put into practice not only embracing the new cultures and tastes that are merging with the Glaswegian way of life, but being good neighbours to the society we live in. There has always been a social conscience in Glasgow where fairness and equality are fundamental. Perhaps we have memories of how our families arrived from Ireland and were given shelter and help and also all the Glaswegians who set off and were given shelter and help in virtually every corner of the globe. My friends are of many cultures,and are some of the finest people I could ever share my life with.

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Most of the time Glasgow is pretty cool - but I've seen some pretty nasty racism and intolerance. Almost always from Rangers fans, though not exclusively.

Did you know there were race-riots in Glasgow in 1919? Here's an interesting few pages about them.

[pmusicman]

Thanks for that. Pretty informative. Never had any doubt about the Rangers fans right enough. They're the rejects from the quality control department. I think we've come a long way in Glasgow. I lived in Blantyre and it was like the dark ages there in terms of intolerance. No politics just pig ignorance although I heard they might be consider letting women into the pubs!

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I posted a story about this guy's arrest last year, but couldn't find it - so this thread will do...

His lawyer describing hims as a 'twit' is quite something - how many twits make bombs?

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Terror poison racist
9th March 2010

A WHITE supremacist has been told to expect a prison sentence after he admitted producing one of the world’s most toxic substances in preparation for acts of terrorism. Terror police investigating extreme right wing activity found ricin in a jam jar in the kitchen of Ian Davison’s home.

Yesterday, at Newcastle Crown Court, the 41-year-old trucker, of Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, County Durham, admitted preparing for acts of terrorism and producing a chemical weapon from June 1 to 3 last year. He also admitted three charges of possessing a record containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing acts of terrorism relating to electronic copies of The Anarchist’s Cookbook, the Mujahideen Explosives Handbook and Kitchen Complete on June 2. The “handbooks” contained information and instructions on the production and use of explosives.

Davison, who wore a pale blue, short-sleeved shirt and was flanked by four prison officers, also admitted possession of a prohibited weapon, which related to a spray canister found during the search. He will be sentenced after the trial of his son Nicky, 19, which is due to begin on April 12, on two charges of possessing material containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing acts of terrorism.

Davison snr was remanded in custody, and Judge John Milford warned him: “Doubtless you have been told only custody can follow.” Toby Hedworth, defending Davison, said the former DJ would be assessed by a psychiatrist before the sentencing hearing. Mr Hedworth said Davison’s role in terrorism was “propaganda”. Davison jnr was granted bail until his trial.

Ricin is a toxin that is extracted from the castor bean and exposure to small quantities can be fatal. The US Center for Disease Control suggests that as little as 500 micrograms – about half a grain of sand – of the substance can be lethal if injected or inhaled. It has no known antidote.

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that's some headline eh? 3 nouns in a row...