How MI5 foiled a Tesco worker's plan for mass gun attack

How MI5 foiled a Tesco worker's plan for mass gun attack4 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleLewis AdamsEssexMet PoliceAlfie Coleman immersed himself in extreme far-right material onlineWhen Alfie Coleman collected a gun and 188 rounds of ammunition from the boot of a Land Rover, his fantasy was within touching distance.To the outside world, he presented as a normal teenager who enjoyed gaming and worked at his local Tesco supermarket in Great Notley, Essex.But he was also a white supremacist who, behind the closed door of his bedroom, had been plotting to use explosives, knives and a gun to cause mass terror – which included targeting the home of the Lord Mayor of London.Coleman has been convicted of preparing terrorist acts following a retrial at the Old Bailey, after jurors in his first trial failed to secure a verdict.How close did he come to executing his plan?'Silent killing'One month into the UK's Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, Coleman, then 15, saved a document to his iPad.It was a copy of a book written by an American neo-Nazi in the 1980s.While not illegal to own, it was the first in a series of texts that appeared to radicalise the teenager.Met PolicePolice found an air rifle inside Coleman's bedroomBy November 2021, Coleman possessed 10 illegal documents of terrorist material.They included guides to explosives and "silent killing", one of which featured a paragraph on how to use a garrote.Meanwhile, Coleman was retreating deeper into his bedroom, cutting contact with his family and friends in self-imposed isolation accelerated by the pandemic.But online, he was much more forthcoming."[I am] a 17-year-old proud white European," he wrote in an email, applying to join white supremacist movement Patriotic Alternative in July 2021.He told the far-right group he "would like to start participating in activism" and attached a photograph to prove his white ethnicity.Met PoliceColeman sent this selfie to...