Chilling: Inside Bedroom Of Weapon-loving White Supremacist in the UK

A white supremacist planned to carry out a horrific machete attack on a gay pride event after declaring "gays look nicer on fire."



Ethan Stables, who told a court he was bisexual, has been convicted of a terror offence after planning to kill people attending a gay pride event at the New Empire pub in Barrow, Cumbria.



Ahead of the foiled attacked the 20-year-old had Googled "how to make chemical poison", "what is prison like for a murderer", "I want to go on a killing spree" and, bizarrely, "do you get haircuts in prison".



Armed police stopped him on the way to the pub after a tip-off from a member of a far-right Facebook group where he had posted a message saying he was "going to war".



Stables, who had an interest in the Columbine High School massacre, had written that he planned to "slaughter every single one of the gay b******".



He was also seen in footage burning a rainbow flag and declaring "gays look nicer on fire".



He was unarmed when he was arrested on June 23, but police found an axe and a machete at his home, Leeds Crown Court heard.



The loner himself claimed he was "brainwashed" by right-wing extremists he met when he lived in hostels.



A his mother claimed he became radicalised after a trip to Germany to see a young woman.



He swapped messages with fellow extremists and blamed the fact that he was jobless on "f*****s, n*****, spastics" and the Equalities Act.



He had also searched for how to make a bomb from matches, and police found a collection of cut-off match heads in his flat.



At other times he expressed his hatred of Muslims and Jews, and claimed in a WhatsApp message a month before his murderous plan: "My country is being raped.



"I might just become a skinhead and kill people."



Jonathan Sandiford, prosecuting, said Stables had previously espoused homophobic, racist and Nazi views online, and the defendant was pictured with a swastika flag hanging on his bedroom wall.



Stables said in his defence that he did not intend to carry out the attack and he was simply venting his anger online.



The defendant, who told the court he is bisexual and has an autism spectrum condition, denied one count of preparing terrorist acts and one of making threats to kill.



He denied he was doing a "recce" of the venue when he was arrested and said he was heading out to sit outside the jobcentre to use the free public WiFi.



The right-wing extremist had a swastika hanging on his bedroom wall and bought a new Nazi armband after his was taken by police when he was arrested.



During his trial it was heard that unemployed Stables, described by his own barrister as "lonely and inadequate", made a series of extremist comments to fellow racists he befriended online.



Leeds Crown Court heard Stables was interested in the Columbine High School massacre, had been expelled following an incident in which he put another pupil in a headlock, and has an autism spectrum condition.



Stables, of Egerton Court, Barrow, claimed he was a liberal and adopted a right-wing persona to fit in with people he chatted to online.



Patrick Upward QC, defending, told the jury Stables was not a white supremacist but a "white fantasist".



His barrister said Stables would sit at night on a wall outside the jobcentre for six hours at a time as he had no WiFi at his home.



In his closing speech to the jury Mr Upward said: "How can that be regarded as normal?"



Judge Peter Collier QC told the jurors they must decide whether Stables was preparing to carry out the attack or, as the defence said, he was a fantasist who got carried away.



"It is a stark contrast," he said.



"The lines are clearly drawn and it is you who have that responsibility to make that decision."



He was convicted of preparing an act of terrorism, making threats to kill and possessing explosive.



He showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts were read out before Judge Peter Collier QC.



Judge Collier told him: "I will hopefully be in a position to deal with your sentence at 2pm."



The judge thanked members of the jury for their service and said: "You will appreciate just how important a role is it you are playing.



"This is a very serious offence."