Ex-soldier William Howitt jailed over far-right bookshop terror plot

An ex-soldier who admired Adolf Hitler and planned to burn down a left-wing bookshop has been jailed for nearly five years.

A court heard William Howitt, 27, wrote a detailed guide on his phone to carry out the arson attack on the Five Leaves Bookshop in Nottingham.

The plan included painting a swastika and "white lives matter" on the wall.

He was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday after he was found guilty of preparing a terrorist act.

Howitt was also jailed for perverting the course of justice, a charge he admitted after his trial had finished.

The court had heard the guide for burning down the bookshop was written on 7 September 2020.

It referenced smashing the windows of the bookshop and dousing books and upholstery with petrol.

On the same day, Howitt bought a hammer to break glass and tarpaulin - both items mentioned in the plan.

Howitt was jailed for four and a half years for preparing a terrorist act and four months consecutively for perverting the course of justice after he got someone else to take the rap for a speeding offence.

Sentencing, Judge Paul Farrer KC said Howitt's arson attack plan was "at best inept, at worse nonsensical", and written in a hotel room late at night under the influence of cocaine and alcohol during a period of low mood and low self-esteem.

However, he said, Howitt had "entrenched right-wing views" which had developed since leaving the Army.

Judge Farrer said: "You were virulently antisemitic, anti-Islam and opposed to the left-wing, you glorified Hitler and were sympathetic of acts of terror towards those you disapproved of."

Judge Farrer said Howitt chose the Five Leaves bookshop as a target because it was "the embodiment of everything you detested".

He said: "You listed the equipment you would need including petrol, a lighter, an air pistol, a knife, tarpaulin, a balaclava, contact gloves.

"You already owned several of these items.

"Having completed and saved your plan, you went to bed and sobered up.

"You told the jury you would do things when drunk you would forget the following day. However, in the following days, the glass hammer and tarpaulin arrived at your address and you cannot have forgotten you created 'plan A'.

"Despite this, there is no evidence you ever visited the note again or sought to progress your plan.

"Having heard the evidence, it is possible and probable when you woke the following day you no longer had a settled intention to attack the bookshop.

"As time progressed you simply forgot about it altogether. But following this, you maintained your extreme right-wing views."

A victim impact statement was read to the court on behalf of Fives Leaves bookshop owner Ross Bradshaw.

He said customers had been supportive but the matter had been "hanging over" staff since March.

He said: "With thousands of titles, we'd be surprised if every customer liked all our books. Our commitment to diversity runs with the grain of bookselling.

"But, if you don't like our books, just walk away, don't plan to burn us down."

He said the fact Howitt was a former soldier made his arson plan much worse, adding: "He set out to damage our lives but succeeded in damaging his own. We hope he seeks help to reintegrate into society so no other bookshop faces the same."

Nick Price, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said in a statement after the sentencing: "His plan to carry out the arson attack was fuelled by his anger and hatred towards those whose views who were strongly opposed to his own.

"Howitt's drafting of the plan was accompanied by the purchase of two items and an attempt to obtain a third.

"It was clear this was not a fantastical creation without intent - he planned to carry out the attack."

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].