Leicestershire man found guilty of terrorism offences

A man from Leicestershire has been found guilty of planning to attack phone, radio and TV masts and damage the road network.

Oliver Lewin had planned to carry out widespread and coordinated attacks over a number of months, because of a mistrust of authority.

He was arrested on 25 August for preparing to commit an act of terrorism. Police seized a number of tools, army surplus combat gear and weapon accessories for the three air rifles he owned. Two air rifles and pellets were also seized, along with a pistol, a BB gun, a walkie talkie, binoculars and a packed rucksack to camp overnight.

The 38-year-old used Telegram to identify and recruit like-minded people to create a national network to carry out coordinated attacks. He also wrote a manual to train others.

Having previously worked as an AV engineer installing and maintaining radio masts, Lewin carried out research online into systems to identify weaknesses of the masts. He also carried out reconnaissance missions in his local area.

He also planned to damage a culvert which disrupted water flow underneath the M1 motorway.

Lewin built a hideout in August 2021 in order to hide from a police helicopter and undertook training exercises including learning how to walk in the dark and how to avoid travelling by road at night.

He is due to be sentenced on 20 January.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing West Midlands CTU, Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Payne, said: “In interview, Lewin claimed he was a fantasist but it is clear he took the steps to carry out reconnaissance of targets to attack, bought equipment and tools, dug hide-outs and tried to recruit and train others.

“He wanted to advance a political cause by damaging property and wiping out media organisations. Extremists use this kind of ideology to create discord, distrust and fear among our communities and we strive to counter this.”

Image by Karlheinz Pape from Pixabay