Half a Ton of BNP Rice

With immaculate timing, the Crown gives us more alleged comedy terrorism.

"Kerena Cottage describes her husband beginning to discuss Asian and white cultures and began listening to what she considered radical radio broadcasts over the internet."

Some time after the chemicals were delivered on 27 September to Cottage's home in Talbot Street, Colne, police arrested him. The Crown say Cottage also had BB guns, a cross bow, gas masks, two 56 kilogram bags of sugar, a box of mini flares, half a ton of rice, 34 gas canisters, a selection of pellets and an air pistol. Also, officers found a series of printed bomb recipes from "The Anarchist's Handbook", downloaded from the internet.

"The prosecution say these recipes, particularly though not exclusively,show what the intention was of these defendants," said Miss Blackwell. "Namely, they intended to make an explosion from what they had. These two men agreed to order chemicals that put together would cause an explosion and had the ability to endanger life or cause damage to property. They didn't have them for any lawful purpose."

I can't work out here if the CPS are crap at their job or the newspaper reporter is. 56-kilo bags ? 56lb bags, yes - that's half a hundredweight in real money.

A crossbow, air pistol, BB guns, a 'selection of pellets', a 'box of mini flares' - are those like those mini rockets that we've got a box of, left over from Guy Fawkes - the ones that whistle ? I hope possession of such stuff isn't a direct route to the Old Bailey, because if so a lot of country-dwellers with kids will be arranging hasty bonfires.

During their search of Cottage's home, officers also discovered a hoard of food and weapons, which Cottage told police he had stockpiled as he feared civil war was about to break out.

Stockpiling food, eh ? Those '34 gas canisters'. I wonder if they'll turn out to be camping gas canisters ? And what's happened to the rocket launchers ?

Mrs Cottage told police her husband listened to radical radio programmes on the Internet and he became more controlling. "For example, he removed the aerial from the TV so she couldn't watch what he described as brain-washing material put out by the Government," she said.

Mr Cottage is being very unfair if he thinks the BBC is a mouthpiece of the Government. As I've said many a time and oft, they're quite happy to attack whoever is in power - from the left.

Mrs Cottage told the court her husband and Mr Jackson were "solid" friends who met regularly outside BNP meetings to discuss politics, the party and Hitler.

She said: "He thinks there's a war going to happen with the culture, the Asian culture and the white culture and that Tony Blair and President Bush are scheming against people. It sounded to me as if he was delusional."

It sounds to me as if he should be writing for the Guardian. And I presume the lovely Kerena isn't the star witness for the defence.

Giving evidence via a video link, Mrs Cottage said her husband had become friends with party leader Nick Griffin during his three-year membership of the BNP.

Likes to chat about Hitler, Nick Griffin's best mate - sounds too good to be true. It's things like this that make me yet again wary of (rightist) conspiracy theorists who think this whole thing is a setup, a kind of demonstration of even-handedness. After all, you've got an ex-BNP candidate - why not trail the offer of a couple of weapons and make the whole thing a bit less Comedy Capers ? Then have the trial before an election, with Mr Griffin having to bat away the questions at every interview ?

No, it's Mr Cock-Up yet again. Kerena Cottage either really doesn't like her husband, or was so reality-challenged as to think her social worker was the most sensible person to discuss hubby's firework fetish with. You do wonder if there may have been the odd leading question to establish the Hitler and Griffin 'signifiers', but that's as far as it goes.



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