Far-right attack on UK inevitable, says informant

The undercover informant who identified nail bomber David Copeland has warned that it is now inevitable that the UK will see another far-right attack.

In 1999, Copeland carried out the worst far-right atrocities ever seen in Britain, killing three people and injuring more than 130 others in three separate bombings targeting London’s gay and minority ethnic communities. The then 22-year-old was caught after 13 days after a mole known as ‘Arthur’ recognised him on the front page of the Evening Standard and informed police of his identity.

Now, the man known as Arthur has warned that police are struggling to keep up with the spread of extremist ideology online.

Speaking to The Observer, he said: “Whether it’s blatantly Nazi or racist it’s much easier to put material on the internet than it is by pushing a leaflet through a door like in the 90s. We’ll definitely see another David Copeland.

“But that person, he or she, should know that they will also ruin their life as well. Copeland had these three weeks of excitement and now he’s stuck in prison for possibly his whole life. It’s not just a bad thing to do, it’s a really stupid life option.”

His warning follows a series of arrests in connection with far-right terrorism, with dawn raids in London this week seeing two men arrested over accusations of spreading ‘far-right extremist material’.