Alfie Coleman, 22, of Great Notley, Essex, was convicted of preparing for terrorist acts following an Old Bailey retrial. He was arrested by counter-terrorism police in September 2023 outside a Morrisons supermarket in east London as he attempted to buy a Makarov pistol, five magazines, and 200 rounds of ammunition. Jurors saw footage of Coleman dropping off £3,500 in a vehicle before being apprehended.
MI5 became aware of Coleman in the summer of 2023 when he became increasingly active in online neo-Nazi and extreme right-wing groups. His online activity included searching for extreme right-wing material since he was 14. Authorities also found that Coleman had compiled a list of colleagues and customers, whom he labeled with racial slurs or as 'race traitors'. He also wrote a manifesto and identified potential targets, including the Lord Mayor of London and a mosque.
During his trial, the court heard that Coleman had previously arranged to buy a Skorpion automatic weapon and an AK47 rifle in France, with a local mosque identified as a target, but this plan was abandoned. His radicalization included idolizing Thomas Mair, the extremist who murdered MP Jo Cox. Evidence presented included notes found in Coleman's prison cell with doodles of swastikas and firearms, along with statements about securing 'a future for white children' and exclamations such as 'Hail Hitler'.
Investigators discovered a range of extremist materials in Coleman's home, including a Black Sun flag, books on extreme right-wing ideologies, and knives. He had also contacted the far-right organization Patriotic Alternative in July 2021, expressing a desire to participate in activism. His plans for potential attacks included hijacking a plane and targeting the Lord Mayor's home, involving explosives, knives, and crossbows.
Coleman admitted to attempting to possess a firearm and ammunition, as well as 10 documents containing information useful to terrorists, such as bomb-making instructions. However, he denied that his actions constituted preparation for a terrorist attack, claiming his statements were intrusive thoughts or bravado. The judge described Coleman's views as 'virulently racist' and deemed him a 'dangerous offender', but spared him a life sentence due to his age, immaturity, autistic spectrum disorder traits, anxiety, vulnerability, lack of prior convictions, and the absence of actual harm caused.
Coleman will serve two-thirds of his 13-and-a-half-year sentence, with over 1,000 days already spent in custody counting towards his time, before becoming eligible for parole. His defense attorney described him as intelligent and articulate, but noted his obsessive personality had taken a 'horribly wrong turn'.