A Muslim convert who was found guilty of planning a terror attack against the Jewish community has been jailed for life.

Self-styled “Anglo Jihadi” Jordan Richardson, who joked about going into a synagogue in a suicide vest, was planning an “atrocity” with a shopping centre among his possible targets, a court heard.

The 21-year-old, was arrested in December 2024 on his way to work in Howden, East Yorkshire, with instructions on how to make mustard gas and a note which said: “Throw all grenades into crowd; Shoot bystanders; Stab anyone who comes close; Do not get taken alive.”

Leeds Crown Court jurors heard a crossbow was found at Richardson’s home, and his internet history showed an affiliation with extreme Islamist ideology.

A search of his online activity showed that his Instagram accounts included one with the handle “Anglo Jihadi”, and his possible targets for an attack included Meadowhall shopping centre, near Sheffield.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said if it wasn’t for counter terrorism, he would have committed that attack “within weeks.”

The court heard Richardson has expressed allegiance to Islamic State in prison.

The judge said Richardson started taking an interest in Islam after conversations at the gym where he worked, and converted after splitting up with his girlfriend, attending a mosque in Goole once a week.

His online searches included: “Does Isis recruit on Instagram?” the court heard.

Jurors were shown a video Richardson posted on Instagram of Meadowhall shopping centre, followed by a brightly coloured clip featuring pictures of rainbows and dolphins, overlaid with the words: “How life feels when you finally give up and just start killing people brutally.”

Other video clips included Richardson smashing a statue of Buddha in a garden, describing how it was a “polytheistic idol”, and also of him firing a crossbow.

He told the trial his behaviour was a form of fantasy and escape from the rest of his life, where he felt depressed and isolated, and that he was “role playing the character of an extremist”.

But prosecutors said he wasn’t just an online fantasist but an extremist who was “going to put his jihadi fantasies into reality”.

In November, Richardson was found guilty of preparing for acts of terrorism, two counts of collecting information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, and three counts of distributing terrorist publications.

Richardson, of Oliver Close, Howden, was handed a discretionary life sentence and told he must serve a minimum term of 16 years.

Howden ‘Anglo Jihadi’ who was planning terror attack jailed for life | ITV News Calendar