STAFFORD — Ivan Jennings, 46, of Stafford, admitted encouraging terrorism between 15 August and 14 November 2024 at Leicester Crown Court. He had pleaded guilty in August to dissemination of a terrorism publication, a charge that related to a manifesto written by Anders Breivik.

Jennings was a member of extreme rightwing social media chat groups, where he encouraged others to emulate Brenton Tarrant. He also discussed the use of molotov cocktails and discussed "killing migrants when they arrive on their boats."

On 14 November 2024, Jennings denied possession of a document for terrorist purposes, namely Tarrant's manifesto. At a hearing, Andrew Lockhart KC said that the count related to Tarrant's manifesto would remain on file until Jennings's sentencing on 4 September at Leicester Crown Court. Jennings remains on conditional bail.

Breivik killed 77 people in terror attacks in Norway in 2011. Tarrant murdered 51 people in terror attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, and attempted to kill 40 others in those attacks.

The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre raised the UK national threat level from "substantial" to "severe" last month. A Home Office spokesperson said: "The terrorist threat level in the UK has been rising for some time, driven by an increase in the broader Islamist and extreme rightwing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the UK."

In the year to March 2025, 8,778 referrals were made to Prevent because of suspicions of extremist radicalisation. That number was 27% higher than in the previous year and was the highest number of referrals in a single year since records began ten years ago.

Of the 8,769 referrals where the type of concern was specified, 21%, or 1,798 cases, were for "extreme rightwing concerns", while 10%, or 870 cases, were connected to Islamist ideology. A further 56%, or 4,917 cases, were for individuals judged to have no identified ideology. Concerns regarding "fascination with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks" accounted for 5% of referrals, or 469 cases.