North East teenager on trial for alleged terrorism offence

Luke Skelton spent hours online searching for and sharing far-right political propaganda for more than year before he was eventually charged with a terrorism offence.

The 19-year-old used chatrooms to spread his thoughts about starting a race war across the UK and civil unrest in France.

Teesside Crown Court heard how a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf was recovered from his North East home when police searched his bedroom.

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Nicholas De La Poer KC, prosecuting, said Skelton was interviewed by police in October 2021 and again the following month where he answered ‘no comment’ to all questions put to him.

The barrister said the defendant had started co-operating with police by November 2022 when he asked to work alongside the government’s Prevent programme, designed to deradicalize people and stop would-be terrorists from committing mass murder.

Jurors listened a number of messages recorded by the accused as well as some of the videos he shared across social media platforms.

Earlier, the court heard how Skelton had developed an interest in France and authored a document entitled “Manifesto for the Monarchist Front of France”, which proposed policies for the country aimed at inciting a revolution.

Forth Banks police station, Newcastle

The barrister told jurors how Skelton dreamed of returning the country back to the 1900s when it was at its peak of Imperialism and ethnic diversity was very limited and shared his vision with people on social media.

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The defendant carried out a ‘hostile reconnaissance' of Forth Bank police station before he was arrested last September and his mobile phone and computer system were seized by counter-terrorism officers.

Skelton, of Oxclose, Washington, denies a charge of preparing to commit acts of terrorism.

The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.