Ex-soldier planned to burn down left-wing bookshop, court told

An ex-British soldier who held extreme far-right views and was an admirer of Adolf Hitler planned to set fire to a left-wing bookshop, a court has heard.

William Howitt, 27, lived in Nottingham with his parents when he wrote a "step-by-step" plan on his iPhone detailing how to carry out an arson attack.

Jurors heard that on the same day, he purchased a glass hammer and tarpaulin that were mentioned in the document as being needed to carry out the attack.

Mr Howitt denies a terrorism charge.

Birmingham Crown Court heard prosecutors allege his intended target was the Five Leaves bookshop and publisher in the city.

The court was told his plan was uncovered when he was stopped by counter-terrorism police at East Midlands Airport when returning to the country on 5 January.

Jurors heard Mr Howitt handed over his phone, with the plan found written in the iPhone notes app on 7 September 2020, as well as other antisemitic, anti-Marxist and pro-Nazi content.

On Monday, prosecutor Emma Gargitter said it was their case that Mr Howitt was preparing a terrorist act with the intention of "intimidating" those with "strongly opposing" views to him.

Analysis of his online activity found he had conducted research relating to a left-wing author with ties to the bookshop, and on the same evening he wrote the arson attack plan, he messaged a contact saying he needed a firearm, the court heard.

The contact he messaged was unable to help, but when he asked Mr Howitt what it was for, he said "it's politically driven and anti-Marxist".

Ms Gargitter said while the bookshop was not mentioned by name in the plan, there can be "no doubt the plan was written with a real-life target in mind".

Mr Howitt had also saved screenshots of the interior and exterior of the bookshop, jurors were told.

Analysis of his chat history found he had referred to Adolf Hitler as a "genius" and called Black Lives Matter campaigners "rioting scum".

Months before the plan, the court heard he also purchased a Hitler T-shirt, and in a message described himself as "what many would call a neo-Nazi".

When Mr Howitt was questioned after his arrest on 14 March, he told police he never intended to carry out the plan.

He said he would say things he did not mean to "fit in" when he was drunk.

But Ms Gargitter told the jury: "This plan was not simply a fantastical creation from his imagination or drunken bravado.

"It was written with real research and with a real venue in mind. He tells you from his own mouth that this was politically driven and anti-Marxist."

Mr Howitt, of West Bridgford, denies a single count of preparation of terrorist acts under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

The trial continues.

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