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Jack Renshaw: MP death plot neo-Nazi jailed for life

BBC Jack Renshaw at a National Action rallyBBC
Renshaw, pictured at a National Action rally, was also jailed for 16 months in 2018 for four counts of grooming adolescent boys

A neo-Nazi who planned to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper has been jailed for life.

Jack Renshaw, 23, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, must serve at least 20 years in prison.

A judge at the Old Bailey said Renshaw, who earlier admitted preparing an act of terrorism, wanted to "replicate" the murder of Jo Cox.

Renshaw made a Nazi salute towards supporters as he was led to the cells from the dock.

He pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial to buying a machete to kill the West Lancashire MP and making threats to kill police officer Det Con Victoria Henderson.

PA Rosie CooperPA
Renshaw admitted plotting to murder Ms Cooper with a 19in (48cm) Gladius knife

A jury twice failed to reach a verdict on charges relating to his membership of banned neo-Nazi group National Action.

Sentencing him, Judge Justice McGowan said Renshaw's "perverted view of history and current politics" led him to "an attempt to damage our entire system of democracy".

She said: "You praised the murder of Jo Cox in tweets and posts in June 2017. In some bizarre way you saw this as a commendable act and set out to replicate that behaviour."

The judge added Renshaw had made "detailed arrangements" and studied Ms Cooper's itinerary.

POLICE HANDOUT Gladius knifePOLICE HANDOUT
The knife Renshaw bought was described by the online seller as offering "19 inches of unprecedented piercing and slashing power at a bargain price"

Giving evidence during his first National Action trial last summer, he said he wanted to murder the MP "to send the state a message".

He got as far as buying a 19in (48cm) Gladius knife and told members of National Action about his plan during a meeting in a Warrington pub in July 2017.

The plot was foiled by whistleblower and former National Action member, Robbie Mullen, who was secretly passing information to anti-racism charity Hope not Hate, which informed police.

Police arrested Renshaw and found the machete hidden in an airing cupboard at his uncle's house.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Cooper said it was "like something out of a horror movie".

Friends and family had encouraged her to stand down from Parliament but she refused because "that would allow tyranny to prevail".

After the sentencing, Ms Cooper said "justice has been served".

Jack Renshaw
Jack Renshaw wearing a mask at a National Action rally in Liverpool in 2016

Renshaw was also jailed for 16 months in June 2018 for four counts of grooming adolescent boys.

Det Con Henderson, who was investigating the child sex offences, said she "had sleepless nights" until he was arrested.

"I am not prepared to let Jack Renshaw ruin my everyday life," she said.

The judge praised the two women and told Renshaw: "You have not defeated them."

She said he had acted in a polite manner towards Det Con Henderson while planning to kill her in an act of revenge.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it presented evidence that persuaded Renshaw to plead guilty, including online research on cutting the jugular artery and how long it would take someone to die from the wound.

Jenny Hopkins, CPS head of counter terror, said: "Jack Renshaw was prepared to act on his white supremacist world view and plotted to kill a Member of Parliament - a plan reminiscent of the abhorrent murder of Jo Cox MP."

Renshaw was also jailed for three years in 2018 for stirring up racial hatred in two anti-Semitic speeches in 2016.