The mother and brother of a "ginger extremist" who plotted to attack the Royal family are no longer on speaking terms after falling out over their decision to report him to police, potentially averting an atrocity, a court heard on Tuesday.
Mark Colborne’s relatives were praised for their bravery as the Aryan supremacist was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.
Patricia Colborne, 59, from Southampton, and her other son Kevin, 30, raised the alarm after discovering he had amassed ingredients for cyanide, along with deranged diary entries which praised mass murderer Anders Breivik and idolised the IRA as proud redheads.
An Old Bailey judge said the family members had acted “entirely properly” after uncovering ingredients for the deadly poison cyanide in Colborne’s bedroom in the modest red brick semi-detached home in Southampton.
His plot was foiled in June last year when his Kevin stumbled on his stash – including notes from The Terrorist Handbook - while doing some DIY.
An Old Bailey judge said the family members had acted “entirely properly” after uncovering ingredients for the deadly poison cyanide in Colborne’s bedroom in the modest red brick semi-detached home in Southampton.
His plot was foiled in June last year when his Kevin stumbled on his stash – including notes from The Terrorist Handbook - while doing some DIY.
In recognition of the enormous repercussions of the steps taken by Mrs Colborne and her family, detectives on the case also applauded their actions.
Detective Sergeant Andy Hedley, of Hampshire Police, said: "I would like to thank and praise Colborne's family who were brave in coming forward to tell us about concerns they had about his behaviour.
"It is clear from our investigation that Mark Colborne is a fantasist who had ideas and plans about committing acts that could cause great harm to people.”
Colborne fantasised about shooting the Prince of Wales so Prince Harry could be king, the court heard.
Displaying apparent misunderstanding of the royal succession, he wrote in his diary: “Kill Charles and Prince Harry becomes king... Kill the tyrants and become free from tyrannical future rule.”
He plotted a terror attack "for the Aryan people", likening himself to Breivik, who killed 77 people in bomb and gun attacks in Norway in 2011.
“The terror attack in Norway was what I was planning to do in England. It was poetic and brilliant,” wrote Colborne, who obtained chemicals and equipment for his plan online, just as Breivik had done.
Colborne had bought enough chemicals on Amazon to cook up enough poison to kill 2,500 people, the court heard.
The jury was told Colborne, a jobless recluse with no real friends, blamed all his problems on school bullies who taunted him about his ginger hair.
•Ginger haired extremist Mark Colborne idolised IRA because of their red hair, court hears
One diary entry said: “It was a curse to be born Aryan among dark-haired Caucasian fascists.”
Another read: “The IRA are my heroes - acting as a small military force taking on a wealthy power, and of course red hair being associated with their history.”
“He worked alone and below radar, brilliant. I will not use explosives as I have found that the chemicals are hard to get and are monitored by the law.”
He was found guilty in September of preparing terrorist acts, following a retrial.
Dr Gwen Adshead, a forensic psychiatrist, told the court Colborne had a mental disorder that required treatment and jail would have a detrimental impact.