A former supermarket worker from Essex has been convicted of planning a mass gun attack after being caught in an undercover MI5 sting, prompting a senior police officer to warn that more young people are being drawn into violent extremism.
Alfie Coleman's Radicalisation
Alfie Coleman, 21, from Great Notley in Essex, began searching for extreme rightwing material online at the age of 14. He compiled a hate-list of colleagues and customers he branded with racial slurs or as “race traitors”, wrote a “manifesto” in a diary, and identified potential targets, including the “lord mayor of London” and a mosque. On Thursday, he was found guilty of preparing for terrorist acts after an Old Bailey retrial.
Coleman was caught after undercover officers from MI5 engaged with him in encrypted chat as he sought to buy weapons. The case prompted Detective Chief Superintendent Helen Flanagan to warn parents to be vigilant, noting that “horrific” terrorist manifestos and extreme material are just “one click” away.
Growing Concern Over Youth Radicalisation
“Unfortunately, we are seeing younger and younger individuals getting radicalised online,” Flanagan said. “Now one in five people that we deal with in counter-terrorism is a child.” Police are seeing more referrals to Prevent, the multi-agency programme aimed at stopping individuals from becoming terrorists. “It is a concern for us around young people getting caught into terrorism through the online influence,” she added.
Concerns about Coleman heightened in summer 2023 when he became increasingly active on extreme rightwing online groups. In early September, he arranged to buy a Škorpion automatic weapon, an AK47 rifle, and bullets in France after identifying a mosque as his target, but quickly abandoned the plan.
The Undercover Operation
MI5’s “highly sophisticated operation” culminated in a Morrisons car park in Stratford, east London, on 29 September 2023. Coleman, then 19, had arranged with an undercover officer to buy a Makarov pistol, five magazines, and 200 rounds of ammunition. Jurors saw video footage of Coleman dropping £3,500 in a Land Rover Discovery and picking up a holdall containing the handgun and ammunition from the boot. Before he had gone 30 metres, armed counter-terrorism police confronted him and forced him to the ground.
A search of his home revealed the extent of his murderous ideology, including idolising Thomas Mair, the extremist who killed MP Jo Cox. Police found £2,500 in savings, a bug detection device, a rock with a swastika, a black sun flag associated with neo-Nazism, and various extreme rightwing books. They also seized knives, a small stone axe, an air rifle, and a flyer about target shooting.
Detailed Plans and Inspiration
Analysis of his devices showed that in July 2021, Coleman emailed the far-right white supremacist organisation Patriotic Alternative, expressing a desire to participate in activism. He wrote plans for potential attacks, including hijacking a plane and targeting the home of the ceremonial lord mayor of London, whose address he had mistaken for that of elected mayor Sadiq Khan. The plans involved explosives in a cash machine, knives, and crossbows.
He was “seething with hatred” as he created a list of people at work who had “upset” him in September 2022, the prosecutor Nicholas De La Poer KC said. Among those singled out was a white female co-worker married to a man of mixed Indian and Seychellois heritage. His “manifesto” drew inspiration from several extremist mass killers he regarded as “warriors”.
Giving evidence, Coleman described being lonely and suffering mental health issues during the Covid-19 lockdowns. He admitted attempting to possess a firearm and ammunition but denied preparing for a terrorist attack. He pleaded guilty to possessing 10 documents useful to terrorists, including texts on weaponry and bomb-making instructions. After the verdict, Coleman was remanded into custody to be sentenced on 8 July.
