A Neo-Nazi convicted of planning terror attacks against Muslims and mosques in Aberdeen has been jailed for life.

Connor Ward, from Banff, Aberdeenshire, was caught with a terrifying arms cache and bomb making equipment.

The 25-year-old also kept a list of mosques and pledged the 'demise' of Islam, heard the High Court in Glasgow.

After searching his home police found hundreds of ball bearings, which could be used in pipe bombs, and rocket tubes capable of firing projectiles.

A stun gun, hundreds of knuckle dusters, knives and metal bars and deactivated bullets were also discovered.

Judge Lord Burns told Ward: 'The jury found you guilty and must have been satisfied you were in the course of preparing acts of terrorism.

'The jury's view was that you formed an intention to attack a Mosque or Mosques in Aberdeen and would have acted alone. You had reached the stage of identifying your targets and expressed threats against Muslims.'

Lord Burns said that if Ward had carried out the acts of terrorism 'it would have had catastrophic results.'

The judge added: 'You had reached the stage of buying materials and you planned to cause serious injury at the least. Your obsession with weapons and explosives and your extreme right-wing attitudes presents serious risk to the public.'

Ward will have to serve at least six years before he is eligible for parole. It will be up to the parole board to decide when, or if, he is released.

Ward showed no emotion as he was led away to begin his sentence.

Horrified officers discovered Ward's lethal hoard after receiving a tip-off that he had broken strict firearms legislation by buying a stun gun from abroad.

They also found Ward had acquired a mobile phone signal jamming device and a machine for picking up hidden bugs and downloaded tens of thousands of documents from the internet on firearms and survival techniques.

The files also contained extreme right-wing propaganda and documents about military tactics.

A map showing the addresses of five Mosques in the Aberdeen area was discovered on Ward's computer.

They also found that Ward, who told jurors he thought Hitler had made mistakes, had started to compile a book called 'Combat 18 British Mosque Address Book.'

Combat 18 is the name of an extreme British right-wing paramilitary group

On the title page of the book, Ward had written : 'This book is dedicated to all that follow Mohammed and the Islamic faith. You will all soon suffer your demise.'

Ward, a former psychiatric patient, claimed he was suffering from mental illness at the time

He said he believed the world was going to end in 2012 and he wanted to survive the apocalypse.

But jurors did not believe him and returned guilty verdicts on two charges of breaching the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Terrorism Act 2006 between February 26, 2011, and November 21, 2014.

Ward was jailed for three years in October 30, 2012, on a charge of contravening the 1883 explosives act by collecting the chemical components of a bomb with the intention of harming his father

He also received a 22 month jail sentence in April 2015 for possessing a stun gun.

Ward was also convicted in July 2016 of having an 'improvised' knife while in jail and given an 18-month sentence.

Defence counsel Drew McKenzie said that Ward was a man with an interest in weapons and had been trying to sell weapons. He added that Ward had sent a stun gun to Amnesty International.</s>A man who planned terror attacks against Muslims and mosques in Aberdeen has been jailed for life.

At the High Court in Glasgow judge Lord Burns told Connor Ward, 25, from Banff, Aberdeenshire, that he must serve at least six years before he is eligible for parole.

Ward, who was caught with a terrifying arms cache and bomb making equipment kept a list of mosques and pledged the “demise” of Islam.

Lord Burns told him: “The jury found you guilty and must have been satisfied you were in the course of preparing acts of terrorism.

“The jury’s view was that you formed an intention to attack a Mosque or Mosques in Aberdeen and would have acted alone. You had reached the stage of identifying your targets and expressed threats against Muslims.”

Lord Burns said that if Ward had carried out the acts of terrorism “It would have had catastrophic results.”

The judge added: “You had reached the stage of buying materials and you planned to cause serious injury at the least. Your obsession with weapons and explosives and your extreme right-wing attitudes presents serious risk to the public.”

It will be up to the parole board to decide when, or if, he is released.

Ward showed no emotion as he was led away to begin his sentence.

Police who searched his Banff, Aberdeenshire, home found hundreds of ball bearings, which could be used in pipe bombs, and rocket tubes capable of firing projectiles.

A stun gun, hundreds of knuckle dusters, knives and metal bars and deactivated bullets were also discovered.

Horrified officers discovered the lethal hoard after receiving a tip-off that Ward had broken strict firearms legislation by buying a stun gun from abroad.

They also found Ward had acquired a mobile phone signal jamming device and a machine for picking up hidden bugs and downloaded tens of thousands of documents from the internet on firearms and survival techniques.

The files also contained extreme right-wing propaganda and documents about military tactics.

A map showing the addresses of five Mosques in the Aberdeen area were discovered on Ward’s computer.

They also found that Ward, who told jurors he thought Hitler had made mistakes, had started to compile a book called “Combat 18 British Mosque Address Book.”

Combat 18 is the name of an extreme British right-wing paramilitary group

On the title page of the book, Ward had written : “This book is dedicated to all that follow Mohammed and the Islamic faith. You will all soon suffer your demise.”

Ward, a former psychiatric patient, claimed he was suffering from mental illness at the time

He said he believed the world was going to end in 2012 and he wanted to survive the apocalypse.

But jurors did not believe him and returned guilty verdicts on two charges of breaching the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Terrorism Act 2006 between February 26, 2011, and November 21, 2014.

Ward was jailed for three years in October 30, 2012, on a charge of contravening the 1883 explosives act by collecting the chemical components of a bomb with the intention of harming his father

He also received a 22 month jail sentence in April 2015 for possessing a stun gun.

Ward was also convicted in July 2016 of having an “improvised” knife while in jail and given an 18-month sentence.

Speaking last month, Detective Chief Superintendent Gerry Mclean, Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “Although he operated alone, the weapons, manuals and downloads he possessed had the potential to cause serious harm.

“While we may never know the full extent of Ward’s intentions thanks to the early intervention of police, we do know that we cannot underestimate the dangerous nature of any behaviour or activity linked to terrorism.”</s>Ward had been jailed previously for possessing bullets and explosives

Ward, who was caught with a terrifying arms cache and bomb-making equipment, kept a list of mosques and pledged the “demise” of Islam.

Lord Burns told him: “The jury found you guilty and must have been satisfied you were in the course of preparing acts of terrorism.

“The jury’s view was that you formed an intention to attack a mosque or mosques in Aberdeen and would have acted alone. You had reached the stage of identifying your targets and expressed threats against Muslims.”

Lord Burns said that if Ward had carried out the acts of terrorism “it would have had catastrophic results”.

He added: “You had reached the stage of buying materials and you planned to cause serious injury at the least.</s>They needed some sort of reaction after last weekend’s no-show and, to Dave Rennie’s relief, his Warriors produced one of their more compelling performances of the season to see off Connacht and claim the top spot in Conference A and the home semi-final that comes with it.

The visitors scored first but the home side reacted with control, energy and better accuracy than of late, although there is still work to be done. Glasgow were 30-8 ahead at half-time and finished with four tries and a bonus point in their pocket.

Connacht are not the force of old so Rennie won’t celebrate too hard but his side can only beat the team they face. Some of the old faults were on show – Glasgow conceded one try to a driving maul, man-of-the-match Peter Horne missed a sitter for the second week in succession, and discipline was poor with two yellows in the second half – but, overall, it was still miles better than last weekend.

Glasgow kept hold of the ball for long periods, they looked threatening and they defended like they meant it. Horne looked comfortable at ten, although that says as much about Connacht’s line speed as anything else, and Alex Dunbar, who has struggled for months with a hamstring, looked like he’d never been away. The centre collected one try and one impressive turnover in the first half.

Glasgow started this game as they finished the last one – badly. Connacht kicked off and the home side were pinged attempting to run the ball out of their red zone.

The Irishmen went to the sidelines and prop Finlay Bealham was last up after the visitors drove Glasgow back over their own line.

The home side’s response was immediate. DTH van der Merwe came off his wing to find a hole in the middle of the field and one pass was enough to send Stuart Hogg over the line. Horne’s conversion and a couple of subsequent penalty kicks gave Glasgow an early eight-point lead.

Glasgow continued to probe and find holes in Connacht’s midfield. This time, Sam Johnson cut an arching run past several Irish defenders who had grown roots. The centre had options and perhaps he took the wrong one because Henry Pyrgos inside him was well marked and Glasgow had to make do with another three points from Horne’s boot.

Connacht kicked a penalty but the visitors’ midfield woes continued because Dunbar was the next one to scamper through the 10/12 channel untouched and he won the foot race to the line for Glasgow’s second try.

There was still time for a third on the stroke of half-time as the Glasgow forwards rolled up their sleeves and bullied their way to the whitewash, Fraser Brown the try scorer.

The second half had barely started when Henry Pyrgos grabbed the bonus point try, the best of the evening by a distance. The move started well inside the Glasgow 22, Niko Matawalu (on for DTH) was involved twice before a back flip from Dunbar and an eye-popping burst of pace from Matt Fagerson sent the scrum-half haring towards the Connacht line. One defender shepherded Pyrgos into the upright where he had the good sense to ground the ball.

Connacht exerted pressure through a series of five-metre scrums and Alex Allan saw yellow but Glasgow cleared their lines.

The visitors had the last say with one try for Caolin Blade and another penalty try from an attacking set scrum, with Glasgow short-handed on both occasions.</s>LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A death investigation is underway after human remains were found in Glasgow.

The remains were discovered around 10:30 a.m. (Central time) today near Veterans Outer Loop and Frank Mills Road and appeared to belong to a male.

Sgt. Terry Flatt, public information officer for the Glasgow Police Department, said the Louisville Metro Police Department's air unit was searching the area where the remains were found and notified his department to look there.

No additional details have been released.

Flatt said Glasgow police are assisting LMPD with the investigation.</s>Visit Scotland said it is exporting the country to the world with a flagship event which will see around 600 tour operators and travel agents from over 30 countries meet more than 300 Scottish tourism businesses.

VisitScotland Expo – which kicks off on Wednesday at the SEC in Glasgow - will welcome hundreds of exhibitors, including accommodation providers, visitor attractions and activity providers, from every corner of the country to showcase their products and services to buyers from the UK and across the globe.

The Scottish tourism agency said enthusiasm is high amongst businesses with the event hosting the largest number of exhibitors in 20 years - up from 276 last year - and welcoming around 80 new businesses, making it the country’s biggest travel trade show. Visitors will come from such countries as the USA, Japan, Brazil, Russia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Germany.

VisitScotland Expo is also celebrating the Year of Young People (YOYP2018) at this year travel event ahead of the European Championships – Glasgow 2018 - taking over the city and venues across Scotland later this year.

VisitScotland said the travel show is marking YOYP2018 by putting the power in young people’s hands with modern apprentices and graduates from VisitScotland judging the shortlist for the Expo stand awards which will be handed out to exhibitors with the best stands.

Described as a global first, YOYP2018 is a platform for young people aged eight to 26 years old to have their voices heard on social issues, their talents showcased and their contribution to communities celebrated.

Glasgow 2018, which includes BMX racing as part of its cycling events, as well as aquatics, golf, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon, expects attendances at venues of around 250,000 this August - bringing a welcome boost to the local economy.

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said: “It’s wonderful to see young people at the forefront of Expo and the Glasgow 2018 celebrations.

“Glasgow is the perfect setting this year for VisitScotland Expo, as the city alone acts as a gateway to the rest of the country and I am sure many of the buyers here will be impressed to see Scotland punching above its weight on the world stage when it comes to tourism and events.

“We need to leverage this reputation to bring new investments, new events, new airlines and new visitors and Expo gives all Scottish tourism businesses the chance to promote their products and services to tour operators and travel agents across the globe – all under one roof.

“Glasgow 2018 promises to be an incredible event, perfectly placed to show off what Scotland has to offer in terms of sports, events and tourism.”

Glasgow 2018 championships director Colin Hartley said: “Glasgow is set to make sporting history later this year when we stage the first ever combined European Championships, using our proven excellence, expertise and warm welcome to create a must-attend and memorable experience for tens of thousands of visitors, athletes, media, spectators, officials and residents.

“We are set to deliver a world class event of which Scotland will be proud, further strengthening Scotland’s position as the perfect stage for major events.”

This year’s VisitScotland Expo will be the 39th staging of the event which began as the Scottish Travel Fair in 1980 before being rebranded in 2002.</s>‘Stagecoach must reverse X26 decision’ – that’s the call from local politicians to Stagecoach.

The Mail revealed last week that Stagecoach was to axe its direct service between Glasgow and Leven in May.

The hourly service will be re-routed from May 14, serving Dundee instead of Levenmouth.

It means there will be just one direct bus service from the area to Glasgow on weekdays – the 4.45am X27 service.

MSP Jenny Gilruth said she is seeking an urgent meeting with Stagecoach over its decision.

“I am quite frankly appalled at Stagecoach’s misguided decision to axe the Glasgow service,” she said.

“Levenmouth is the largest urban conurbation in the entire country with no direct rail link. Now this.

“What really concerns me is the price increase in fares which will go along with proposed changes. Currently a single from Leven direct to Glasgow is £12.50 – and it’s exactly the same price from Glenrothes. However, a single from Leven to Glenrothes is £3.80.

“Stagecoach need to think again. People in Leven shouldn’t pay a penny more for a poorer service.”

Fife MSP Claire Baker added: “This is a short-sighted decision by Stagecoach which severs one of the few positive transport links Levenmouth has.

“Immediately after the announcement was made public I have had locals contacting me on both social media and by email to raise their anger and frustration.

“Many locals want to visit Glasgow to see friends, relatives or to travel there for work. As the area is still waiting for its long overdue rail link, the bus is many people’s only option.

“The area deserves a direct link and Stagecoach must reverse their decision.

“I will be contacting the company directly to ask them to change their plans.

“For too long bus operators have put profits before the needs of customers and this must change. Levenmouth deserves better.”</s>A decade ago, some 1,200 supporters attended Glasgow’s first home game of the season against Connacht; yesterday 2,000 turned up to watch the Warriors train.

This tweet from Glasgow is indicative of the growing army of supporters behind a Warriors outfit leading the Pro14’s Conference A, and when these two sides meet again on Friday evening at the opposite end of the season, it would appear little has changed in the intervening years.

The result that day was 16-15 in favour of the hosts, and Connacht are once again expecting a tight game, particularly in the aftermath of Saturday’s 39-10 loss to Ospreys in Liberty Stadium.

Despite little to play for but pride, Connacht’s forward coach Jimmy Duffy says the mindset remains to win.

“We are preparing to try to beat Glasgow at the weekend. It will be a huge challenge, and after their loss at the weekend, they will be gunning for us, so it’s going to be a competitive fixture.

“We have been within range of a lot of teams this year which shows we are competitive, but we are are looking for continuous improvement, and that is the driving factor. We need to express ourselves and realise our potential.”

Duffy says Connacht need to take the positives from this season, particularly the introduction of a some young players, such as Peter Robb last weekend.

“You can’t buy experience, and that is what we are really driving at the minute. So to play in that pressure cooker environment against players of that calibre in Glasgow is what it is about.”

Duffy accepts expectations have not been met since winning the Pro12 trophy two seasons ago.

“In the last couple of years the expectation has been very high, but we have had players leave the club, players come into the club, a number of young guys coming through, so it is evolving. We had had never been in that position before, never won a trophy, or transitioned out so many players; never had a pre-season with seven out on international duty.

“That was a massive learning for us, and I believe we will be the stronger for it. It will take some time, and I can understand supporters may be frustrated, but I think people have to see what is coming, where we are going, and some of the performances we have put together.”

Injuries from Connacht’s loss in Wales include Seán O’Brien, who is following HIA protocols and is an unlikely to travel to Scotland, while fullback Tiernan O’Halloran will continue to be monitored this week for a foot injury.</s>Glasgow Police say human remains were found in a ravine, located near Veterans Outer Loop and Frank Mills Road, not far from a Wal-Mart. Authorities believe the remains are that of a man. Glasgow police officers are being assisted by officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department. Louisville is involved because the remains may belong to a missing person from that area.</s>Ecologists are working with Glasgow City Council to rehome 600 fossorial water voles.

Part of the Easterhouse area is to be redeveloped for affordable housing and three other areas of park land are to have green infrastructure work carried out.

Tony Marshall, principal ecologist with developers Aecom, told BBC Scotland the move was carefully researched to identify suitable alternative grassland locations for the new furry residents.
The High Court in Glasgow sentences Banff resident Connor Ward to life in prison with a minimum term of six years for plotting an anti-Islamic terror attack against mosques in Aberdeen.