Two members of the
banned neo-Nazi group National Action, including its leader, have been jailed.
Christopher Lythgoe, 32, of Warrington, was arrested by police investigating a plot to murder the Labour MP Rosie Cooper and a female police officer. He was jailed for eight years at the end of a six-week trial at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.
Matthew Hankinson, 24, of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, was also found guilty of belonging to National Action and jailed for six years. A jury acquitted Garron Helm, 24, of Seaforth, Merseyside, of being a member of the group.
Christopher Lythgoe, 32, leader of the banned neo-Nazi group National Action, has been jailed for eight years. Photograph: Greater Manchester police/PA
Jack Renshaw, 23, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, has
pleaded guilty to preparing to engage in an act of terrorism in relation to the plot against Cooper and threatening a police officer. He has also been convicted of stirring up racial hatred in speeches in 2016, it can now be reported.
Renshaw’s plan was foiled by a whistleblower, Robbie Mullen, 25, who leaked details of a meeting at the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington to the campaign group Hope Not Hate in July last year.