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Neo-Nazi given 10 years for making chemical weapons

Mark Hughes
Saturday 15 May 2010 00:00 BST

A white supremacist who became the first person to be sentenced for producing a chemical weapon was jailed for 10 years yesterday. Ian Davison, 41, made enough ricin to kill nine people and kept it in a jar in his kitchen for two years.

Police found the deadly chemical when they raided his home in Burnopfield, County Durham, last June.

He was jailed at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, alongside his son Nicky, 19, who was a fellow member of a racist group known as the Aryan Strike Force. Nicky Davison was sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institution.

His father previously admitted producing a chemical weapon, preparing acts of terrorism, three counts of possessing material useful to commit acts of terror and one count of possessing a prohibited weapon.

Nicky Davison, from Annfield Plain, County Durham, was convicted of three counts of possessing material useful for acts of terror.

The court was told the father and son were members of the ASF, a neo-Nazi group which wanted to establish "white supremacy in white countries". His father made the ricin at home in 2006 or early 2007, said Andrew Edis QC, for the prosecution.

It was found when police raided the property and was now stored at the Government's chemical weapons centre at Porton Down .

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