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No verdict reached in trial of former MMU student who plotted to kill an MP

He was convicted of child grooming last year


Today a jury was unable to reach a verdict in the trial of Jack Renshaw, who plotted to kill Labour MP Rosie Cooper and DC Victoria Henderson.

The former MMU student was accused of plotting to kill two women. He admitted to plotting an act of terrorism and will not be re-trialled.

Renshaw's plot was foiled by Robbie Mullen, a former member of National Action, who informed anti racism charity Hope Not Hate of his plans. It was reported for the first time today that Renshaw had been previously convicted of child grooming. His sentencing will take place on the 17th of May.

On Saturday 1st July 2017, at his local pub, Friar Penketh in Warrington, Jack Renshaw discussed his plans for killing Labour MP Rosie Cooper and Victoria Henderson with friends.

Renshaw told them he had bought a Gladius Machete and planned to take Rosie Cooper as hostage and lure Henderson to him, and then kill them both. He was to wear a fake suicide vest and advance on armed police, committing "suicide-by-cop".

Robbie Mullen, a former member of National Action, became disillusioned with his association with the far-right group after hearing Renshaw's plans to kidnap and murder.

Robbie reported Renshaw to Hope Not Hate, telling them: "Jack is going to kill an MP soon." Hope Not Hate issued a warning to Rosie Cooper, who then became the centre of a counter-terrorism investigation.

Renshaw was arrested and put on trial for involvement in an allegedly neo-Nazi plot to kill a Labour MP, and two sexual offences for online grooming. He was jailed for 16 months in June 2018.

On trial, Renshaw admitted a terrorist plot to murder Rosie Cooper, plead guilty to making a threat to kill Victoria Henderson, but denied membership of National Action. Renshaw is also up for four counts of online grooming.

Renshaw became a member of the EDL at the age of 15, after moving from Blackpool to Skelmersdale in Lancashire. Renshaw met BNP leader Nick Griffin at the memorial service for Charlene Downes, a 14-year-old girl whose disappearance was defined by a series of racially aggravated assaults in Blackpool. Renshaw then joined the BNP, to his parents protests.

Renshaw began studying Economics and Politics at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2013. During this time, he featured in a BNP Youth video, shown below.

In a 2014 interview with The Tab, Renshaw said he struggled to make friends at university after the infamy of the BNP campaign video and his online comments.

He said: "I’ve been spat at – numerous times, and I’ve been shouted at on the street. Just people who know me, after the BNP video I had a lot of trouble, when I walked through Manchester people shouted crap at me."

In 2015, Renshaw joined National Action, a far-right group later proscribed as a terrorist organisation after they expressed support for the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox. During his association with National Action, Jack expressed vehement racial hatred.

At a National Action event in 2015, Renshaw said: "Hitler was right in many senses but you know where he was wrong? He showed mercy to people who did not deserve mercy. As nationalists we need to learn from the mistakes of the national socialists and we need to realise that, no, you do not show the Jew mercy."

Renshaw was subsequently arrested in January 2017 for inciting racial hatred, where he was interviewed by DC Victoria Henderson. Henderson would go on to interview him again in May 2017, when Renshaw was re-arrested for sexually grooming a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy for sex using a fake Facebook profile.

Renshaw had offered them money for sex and asked for intimate photos. During questioning, Victoria Henderson said Renshaw appeared "shocked and upset" and had "gone visibly white and was very teary".

Renshaw denied the charges and was released on bail. Two days later, he Googled Victoria Henderson's name. He Googled: "How long to die after jugular cut". On 7th June 2017, he ordered a 19-inch Gladius machete online.

During a seven-week re-trial and 48 hours of jury deliberation culminating yesterday, Old Bailey jury said they were unable to reach a unanimous or majority verdict.

Related stories:

Jack Renshaw: People spit at me in the street

An MMU grad has admitted involvement in a ‘neo-Nazi’ plot to kill a labour MP

How did Jack Renshaw, star of the creepy BNP Youth video, end up attempting to murder an MP?