British Neo-Nazi Radicalised at 14 Tried Buying Gun From Undercover Officers for £3,500

A British neo-Nazi who police said was radicalised online from the age of 14 has been jailed for 13 years and six months after attempting to buy a handgun and 200 rounds of ammunition from undercover officers for £3,500 as part of a planned terrorist attack.

Alfie Coleman, 22, from Great Notley, Essex, believed he was about to take possession of a Makarov semi-automatic pistol, five magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition during an undercover operation involving Counter Terrorism Policing and MI5 in September 2023. Prosecutors said he intended to carry out a mass shooting motivated by an extreme right-wing ideology.

The Old Bailey heard Coleman had spent years consuming neo-Nazi propaganda online after becoming radicalised at the age of 14 before progressing from extremist material to planning an attack. Police said the case illustrated the growing threat posed by the online radicalisation of young people.

MI5 Sting Operation

The investigation culminated in September 2023 when undercover officers, communicating with Coleman through the encrypted messaging app Telegram, arranged to meet him in the car park of a Morrisons supermarket in Stratford, east London. They offered what he believed was a Makarov semi-automatic pistol, five magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition.

The court heard Coleman handed over £3,500 in cash, saved from his supermarket wages, before collecting a holdall from the boot of an undercover vehicle. Armed counter-terrorism officers arrested him moments later in front of shoppers.

A search of his family home uncovered five knives, a petrol bomb, a surveillance camera detector, a neo-Nazi Black Sun flag and extremist material, including firearms and explosives manuals.

Manifesto Revealed at Trial

Prosecutors said Coleman subscribed to an accelerationist neo-Nazi ideology that sought to trigger a race war through mass violence. They said he idolised Adolf Hitler, Thomas Mair and other extremist mass killers.

Investigators found a manifesto-style diary identifying Tesco colleagues and customers, the Lord Mayor of London and a mosque in France as potential targets. Some colleagues were labelled 'race traitors' because they were in mixed-race relationships.

Two days before the arranged gun purchase, Coleman wrote: 'Something has gotta be done, how long can we sit here and talk over the internet?' On the same day, he ordered a combat knife with a 12-centimetre blade, prosecutors said.

Coleman admitted attempting to possess a prohibited firearm and ammunition, along with 10 counts of possessing information likely to be useful to terrorists, but denied preparing acts of terrorism. A jury convicted him following a retrial at the Old Bailey in April.

Sentence and Radicalisation Warning

Coleman was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison and will remain on extended licence for five years after his release. He was also made subject to a Part 4 notification order requiring him to provide personal details to police for 30 years.

Sentencing him, Judge Richard Marks KC described Coleman as a dangerous offender whose racist ideology posed an ongoing risk to the public. He said Coleman's age, autistic spectrum disorder traits, anxiety, immaturity and lack of previous convictions weighed against imposing a discretionary life sentence.

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the case highlighted the growing threat of online radicalisation among young people. Urging parents and carers to monitor their children's online activity, she warned investigators were seeing increasing numbers drawn into violent extremism through the internet.