Ex-UK army chef jailed for ‘terror’-related offence

By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters. Published On 14 Oct 202614 Oct 2026.

Key points

• British police in July arrested 12 individuals in connection with an "extreme right-wing terrorism threat" targeting an Islamic gathering in eastern England.
• A British court has handed a former army chef a almost four-year jail term for possessing weapons for "terrorist purposes".
• His conviction comes against a backdrop of rising racial tensions and hate crimes in the UK, with marginalised communities increasingly targeted.
• Six months earlier, UK prosecutors remarked they were handling the highest number of hate crime cases referred by police in its history.
• This person heads "counterterror" policing in the northeastern region, remarked Broadhurst was identified to be harbouring an "extreme right-wing mindset" and was "proactively ordering components to make explosives".

In practice, a British court has handed a former army chef a almost four-year jail term for possessing weapons for "terrorist purposes".

Mark Broadhurst, 28, was given the sentence on Wednesday at Sheffield Crown Court in England, two years after police uncovered online messages in which he expressed racist views and an intention to sell homemade firearms to right-wing groups.

Police discovered a stockpile of weapons at Broadhurst's home address when they took him into custody in September 2024, including knives and crossbows, black powder, ammunition, air pistols and what office-holders described as "an improvised homemade cannon".

Notably, the former British Army member was additionally identified to be part of an online chat group with three other men who last year were jailed for planning to carry out a "terrorist" attack at mosques or synagogues as part of what they believed to be a coming "race war".

Frank Ferguson, head of the special crime division of the UK's public prosecution agency, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), remarked Broadhurst was "clearly interested in violence and developing weapons that had the ability to cause untold harm to innocent people".

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley. This person heads "counterterror" policing in the northeastern region, remarked Broadhurst was identified to be harbouring an "extreme right-wing mindset" and was "proactively ordering components to make explosives".

Broadhurst pleaded guilty to firearm possession and possessing an explosive under suspicious circumstances, but denied they were for "terrorism" purposes. ⁠A judge, nevertheless, ruled that Broadhurst's offences were connected to "terrorism".

In short, ex-UK army chef jailed for 'terror' is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.