'Ginger Extremist' guilty in plot to make Prince Harry king
Mark Colborne had ingredients to make enough cyanide to kill 2,500 people
A 37-year-old dubbed the "Ginger Extremist", who fantasised about killing Prince Charles so that Prince Harry could be king, has been found guilty of plotting a terrorist attack.
In a retrial at the Old Bailey, Mark Colborne from Southampton was convicted of preparing terrorist acts, as well as possessing ingredients and recipes to make enough cyanide to kill 2,500 people. A previous jury failed to reach a verdict.
The contents of a diary and notes kept by Colborne included several damning entries, reports the BBC.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I don't want to be a serial killer," he wrote. "I'm more of an Anders Breivik. I have left potential targets open. I was waiting for an opportunity to kill one of them. Let it be Prince Charles, which would be good."
Another diary entry said: "Take up a good position and put a bullet in Charles's head. He is protected but not too protected. I would sacrifice my life for that one shot. Kill Charles and William, and Harry [will] become king. Kill the tyrants."
The jury was also told that Colborne felt "belittled" for being white with ginger hair. According to prosecutor Annabel Darlow, his diary also included passages about his hatred for "non-Aryans", calling them "blacks and Caucasian idiots".
Colborne denied all the charges, telling the court that his diary entries were simply "angry rants" that he wrote during a time when he had stopped taking medication for depression.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Police praised his family for coming forward when they uncovered the chemicals and notes in his bedroom.
Colborne will be sentenced on 3 November.
-
The Flower Bearers: ‘a visceral depiction of violence, loss and emotional destruction’The Week Recommends Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ ‘open wound of a memoir’ is also a powerful ‘love story’ and a ‘portrait of sisterhood’
-
Steal: ‘glossy’ Amazon Prime thriller starring Sophie TurnerThe Week Recommends The Game of Thrones alumna dazzles as a ‘disillusioned twentysomething’ whose life takes a dramatic turn during a financial heist
-
Anna Ancher: Painting Light – a ‘moving’ and attention-grabbing exhibitionThe Week Recommends Dulwich Picture Gallery show celebrates the Danish artist’s ‘virtuosic handling of the shifting Nordic light’
-
How the ‘British FBI’ will workThe Explainer New National Police Service to focus on fighting terrorism, fraud and organised crime, freeing up local forces to tackle everyday offences
-
How the Bondi massacre unfoldedIn Depth Deadly terrorist attack during Hanukkah celebration in Sydney prompts review of Australia’s gun control laws and reckoning over global rise in antisemitism
-
Who is fuelling the flames of antisemitism in Australia?Today’s Big Question Deadly Bondi Beach attack the result of ‘permissive environment’ where warning signs were ‘too often left unchecked’
-
Ten years after Bataclan: how has France changed?Today's Big Question ‘Act of war’ by Islamist terrorists was a ‘shockingly direct challenge’ to Western morality
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Manchester synagogue attack: what do we know?Today’s Big Question Two dead after car and stabbing attack on holiest day in Jewish year
-
The Miami Showband massacre, 50 years onThe Explainer Unanswered questions remain over Troubles terror attack that killed three members of one of Ireland's most popular music acts
-
The failed bombings of 21/7The Explainer The unsuccessful attacks 'unnerved' London and led to a tragic mistake