A 21-year-old neo-Nazi from Great Notley, Essex, stands convicted of preparing a terrorist act following an MI5 undercover operation that ended in a Morrisons car park in east London.
Alfie Coleman received the guilty verdict at the Old Bailey during a retrial on Thursday. Authorities first noted his rising involvement in extreme right-wing online groups during the summer of 2023.
Early Radicalization and Target Lists
Coleman began accessing extreme right-wing content online at age 14, downloading neo-Nazi texts on his iPad. The former part-time Tesco employee compiled a hate list targeting colleagues and customers with racial slurs or labels like “race traitors.” Potential targets included the Lord Mayor of London and a local mosque.
In July 2021, he emailed the far-right group Patriotic Alternative ing interest in activism. By September 2022, he documented individuals at work who had upset him, including a white female coworker married to a man of mixed Indian and Seychellois heritage. Coleman ed fascination with an extreme right-wing book detailing public hangings of “white race traitors.” His personal manifesto drew inspiration from several mass killers he viewed as “warriors.”
The Foiled Weapons Deals
In early September 2023, Coleman arranged to purchase a Skorpion automatic weapon, an AK47 rifle, and ammunition in France, aiming at a mosque, but he abandoned the plan. MI5 then launched a sophisticated sting.
On September 29, 2023, in a Stratford Morrisons car park, the then-19-year-old met an undercover officer posing as a seller. Jurors viewed video footage of Coleman handing over £3,500 in a Land Rover Discovery and retrieving a holdall from the boot containing a Makarov pistol, five magazines, and 200 rounds of ammunition.
Armed counter-terrorism police arrested him moments later, just 30 yards away, as he carried his Tesco employee card. Days earlier, he posted an image of a balaclava-clad man with an automatic gun, captioning it: “Coming soon here my man.” Two days before the meet, he wrote: “Just something has gotta be done, how long can we sit here and talk over the internet.” That same day, he ordered a Gerber Strong Arm knife online.
Evidence from Searches and Devices
A search of his home uncovered items reflecting his ideology: savings of £2,500, a bug-detection device, a swastika-etched rock, a Black Sun neo-Nazi flag, extreme right-wing books, knives, a small stone axe, an air rifle, and a target shooting flyer. He idolized Thomas Mair, the extremist who murdered MP Jo Cox.
Device analysis revealed 10 documents useful to terrorists, including texts on weaponry and bomb-making, to which Coleman pleaded guilty. He admitted attempting to possess a firearm and ammunition but denied preparing a terrorist attack.
In court, Coleman described loneliness and mental health struggles during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Police Assessment and Broader Concerns
Coleman remains in custody awaiting sentencing on July 8. Detective Chief Superintendent Helen Flanagan, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, highlighted the operation’s success.
“The verdict shows the success of counter terrorism policing and MI5 working together and that’s what we do day in day out,” she stated. “Alfie Coleman is a really dangerous individual, and through our work, we were able to thwart any attack and manage that risk to the public.”
Flanagan emphasized the physical evidence of his commitment: “Securing the evidence of Coleman physically exchanging the money for firearms provided the prosecution team with the evidence that shows Coleman was fully prepared and committed to carry out an attack way beyond simply typing out ideas of fantasy on his computer.”
She noted his pursuit of automatic weapons indicated plans for a mass attack to spark a “race war.” Flanagan described Coleman’s case as an “acute” instance of a rising trend: children radicalized online. “Sadly in this case, it’s ultimately led to him developing a plan and desire to go out and kill innocent people,” she said. “Whilst this is rare and shocking, unfortunately we’re starting to see this more and more in our casework.”
She urged parents to monitor online activity and start “difficult conversations” when needed.
