By Pat Hurst & Joe Smith
A wannabe mass-killer - who idolised the US terrorist known as the Unabomber - wrote a “how-to” guide on car bombs for “misfits” from his mum’s back bedroom, and was found guilty of terror offences.
Wannabe revolutionary Jacob Graham, 20, from Norris Green in Liverpool, had collected a stash of chemicals and manuals on weapons, bombs, and poisons, cops said.
Graham, who used the alias "Destro the Destroyer" blamed the Government for his "unsatisfactory" life, and recorded dozens of video messages from the back bedroom of his mother's home, sending numerous manuals and giving instructions on weapons, explosives and poisons, a court was told.
He wrote a guide he titled the "Freedom Encyclopaedia" which was dedicated to "misfits, social nobodies, Anarchists, Terrorists (future and present) who wants to fight for freedom... against the Government". He also wrote a document called "My Plan" saying he wanted to kill at least 50 people by attacking government buildings and politicians' houses.
He was found guilty by a jury on Thursday of one count of the preparation of terrorist acts, four counts of possession of information for terrorist purposes, and two of dissemination of a terrorist publication, between May 2022 and May 2023, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Graham was cleared of one count of preparation of terrorist acts, following the five-week trial. Jurors heard Graham was motivated by a hatred and contempt for the Government, whom he perceived as tyrannical and oppressive of those he termed "working class" people. He acquired a large number of instructions needed to construct bombs, firearms, and ammunition, and sourced and obtained chemicals as well as a 3D printer.
He also carried out chemical experiments, the court heard. After he was arrested on May 26 2023, police found a number of chemicals, each of which could be used as ingredients in various explosive mixtures, jurors heard.
Also found was a 3D printer, which had the potential to be used to print parts of homemade firearms, including the carbine, FGC-9 MKII. Police also found an "online arsenal" of information on his computer devices, including on the manufacture of deadly weapons and explosives, many of which could be made at home with basic skills and using materials or ingredients that could be gotten hold of relatively easily.
The court heard Graham was not about to commit a terror attack but was preparing to act or assist others to commit terrorism. Graham claimed his activities were merely "escapism and fantasy".
He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on March 18.
