The conviction of ROBERT COTTAGE for possession of explosives has once again highlighted the link between BNP members and racial violence and terrorism. While the BNP moved quickly to distance itself from the actions of a man who stood in three local elections as a BNP candidate, he joins a growing list of BNP members who have engaged in some form of terrorist or murderous behaviour. Read more.
- DAVID COPELAND – London nail bomber David Copeland brought havoc to London when he set off three nail bombs in 1999. He was a BNP member and activist in East London. He told police when questioned that he wanted to ignite a race war in Britain so that the white population would vote for a BNP government. Read more
- TONY LECOMBER – Nick Griffin’s chief lieutenant Tony Lecomber was convicted and imprisoned for three years for five offences under the Explosives Act after he tried to blow up the offices of a political party. Police found hand grenades and detonators at his home. Despite this the BNP kept him on its payroll for over ten years. He was eventually forced out of his job after he approached Joe Owens to kill a leading politician.
- ALLEN BOYCE and TERRY COLLINS In July 2006 Allen Boyce, a BNP supporter, received a two-year suspended sentence for providing Terry Collins, a BNP activist, with bomb making instructions. Collins himself was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in 2005 for conducting a racist terror campaign against the Asian community in Eastbourne. Read more
- MARK BULLMAN – arsonist Mark Bulman, a BNP activist, was jailed for five years in January after trying to set fire to Swindon’s Broad Street mosque. He used a BNP leaflet as a fuse for his petrol bomb. Read more
- JOE OWENS – gangland hitman For three years until summer 2004 Joe Owens acted as the personal bodyguard to Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, as well as being the Merseyside organiser of the BNP. However, Owens was also known locally as a gangland hitman, whom police had linked to several underworld murders.
Left to right: Mark Bulman, Allen Boyce, Joe Owens , Tony Lecomber (image David Hoffman)
Hope Not Hate