Copyright yahoo
A “mad scientist” who suggested driving a tank armed with flamethrowers and machine guns into a mosque has been convicted of manufacturing homemade explosives. Harry Whittaker, 33, conducted experiments with radioactive materials and lethal poisons in a garden shed he called “The Laboratory”. He labelled a cyanide sample “Zyklon B” after the poison used in the Holocaust, while Nazi paraphernalia including a swastika flag and a framed photograph of Adolf Hitler were found in his room. Whittaker used a variety of racist slurs in messages with his father and on one occasion spoke of driving “a tank covered in flame throwers and machine guns into Luton central mosque”. ‘Smoke billowed from his shed’ He later insisted he was only joking and claimed that as a result of Asperger’s, ADHD and autism, he had “no filter”. Whittaker, who used the name “Harry the Mad Scientist” on WhatsApp, was convicted of two charges of possessing an explosive substance and two charges of making an explosive substance. Neighbours at Whittaker’s home in the village of Caddington, near Luton, had long become accustomed to the sound of muffled explosions and plumes of smoke billowing from his garden shed. He was arrested after calling an ambulance saying he was suffering from breathing difficulties after handling chemicals. Searching the property, which Whittaker shared with his mother, police found a handwritten note which said “worship Hitler”, “avoid gays”, “make explosives” and “discriminate against other people of other religions and race”. ‘It was just to make me smile’ A canister containing a burnt powder was labelled “warning, danger – extremely explosive, keep away from fire and children and use on Jews only”. Asked about his experiments, Whittaker said it was a hobby akin to “collecting Pokemon cards” and the Zyklon B label was “a joke”. “There was no real motive behind it. It was just to make me smile,” he said, adding that he had struggled in the past with humour. Whittaker said he had bought “yellow cake” uranium concentrate from the internet and a person he used to work with had given him 20mg of potassium cyanide in a bucket. Giving evidence, Whittaker said he would never have harmed anyone and he was “just a nerdy kid who likes doing science”. Whittaker said he did not want to dispose of the chemicals in a bin because he was worried Muslims may use it to attack Jewish people. He told the jury he had no criminal record but the prosecution revealed he had been convicted of causing actual bodily harm to his neighbour when she tried to stop him using a car when under the influence of drugs. Whittaker admitted that messages sent to his father about attacking a mosque and turning those inside into “mincemeat” were racist. But he added that while he would not racially abuse anyone in public, he did use racist language in private. Whittaker was convicted of four counts of possessing an explosive substance and two counts of making an explosive substance on or before May 6 last year. He was cleared of two charges of possessing an explosive substance. He admitted a charge under the Poisons Act and having ammunition without a licence. Judge Simon Mayo KC will sentence Whittaker on Jan 9.
