ITV’s The Walk-In tells the dramatic, real-life story of a Neo-Nazi’s attempt to kill Labour MP Rosie Cooper and DC Victoria Henderson, and how two former far-right extremist group members helped to foil his plan and bring him down.
But what exactly happened to Jack Renshaw once his wicked plot had been exposed? And what happened to those associated with far-right group National Action?
Here’s all you need to know.
What happened to Jack Renshaw?
In 2018, Renshaw was tried for alleged membership of National Action. He denied being a member of the group after it was banned. During the trial, he admitted to both threatening to kill Henderson and preparing to kill Cooper, and was convicted of engaging in conduct in preparation of a terrorist act and making a threat to kill. He was given a life sentence in 2019 with 20 years minimum to be served.
Renshaw faced a retrial for alleged membership of National Action. The jury did not reach a majority verdict and the charges were not pursued any further.
He’d previously been given one three-year term and one 16-month term for stirring up racial hatred and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity respectively.
Judge Mrs Justice McGowan called Renshaw a “dangerous offender” who posed a high risk to the British public, who’d tried to “damage an entire system of democracy”. Referring to his targets, she added: “The dignity and bravery they [Henderson and Cooper] have demonstrated show the true public spirit and public interest that motivated their work. You have not defeated them.”
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An unrepentant Renshaw gave a Nazi salute as he was escorted from the courtroom, while supporters in the public gallery shouted, “We are with you, Jack.” His defence lawyer, Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC, argued during the trial that there was evidence her client could be rehabilitated: “No change will happen overnight but he has had greater social integration in custody than he has had in his life.”
What happened to Christopher Lythgoe?
Christopher Lythgoe, the leader of extremist group National Action, was charged with encouraging Renshaw’s murder plot. He had allegedly advised him to aim for the then-Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, and also allegedly suggested that a synagogue be targeted too. He also set up a gym in which he and his followers reportedly prepared themselves for a “race war”.
In 2018, an Old Bailey jury found Lythgoe not guilty of encouraging Renshaw. He was found guilty of National Action membership.
The far-right extremist group had been proscribed as a terrorist organisation two years earlier following its celebratory reaction to the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox. He was subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison.
At the sentencing, Mr Justice Jay described National Action’s vision as “truly evil and dystopian,” before telling Lythgoe, “You are a fully-fledged neo-Nazi complete with deep-seated racism and anti-Semitism.”
What happened to the others on trial?
Matthew Hankinson received a six-year jail sentence after being found guilty of being a National Action member.
Garron Helm, who attended a pub meeting where Renshaw revealed his murderous intentions, was acquitted of the same charge. He’d previously been jailed after pleading guilty to sending an offensive, indecent or obscene message, for directing an antisemitic Tweet to Labour MP Luciana Berger.
Along with Renshaw, Andrew Clarke and Michal Trubini’s charges of National Action membership also went to a 2019 retrial. A jury spent two days deliberating over all three parties, but were discharged by Mrs Justice McGowan after failing to reach a majority verdict. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC later told the court that a decision had been made not to stage a second retrial.
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Trubini said that he was a nationalist and felt at odds with multiculturalism. He claimed that the Nazi flag discovered at his home was simply a “spur of the moment” purchase while learning more about politics.
Clarke, meanwhile, argued that National Action’s sense of humour was lost on the general public. Referring to a town centre speech in which he said, “St Helens, your enemy is the Jew,” the defendant claimed that he’d simply been making a joke.
What happened to National Action’s founders?
While not involved specifically in Renshaw’s case, National Action’s co-founders also find themselves in jail. Following its banning under terror legislation in 2016, Ben Raymond morphed the far-right group into another one called NS131 – National Socialist Anti-Capitalist Action. He received an eight-year prison sentence in 2021 after a jury found him guilty of membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation, and was also convicted of possessing a terrorism manifesto and a guide to homemade detonators.
Another co-founder, Alex Davies, was also given an eight-year sentence this year, becoming the 19th person to be convicted of National Action membership. Mark Dennis QC surmised that Davies remained “an adherent of Adolf Hitler and all that he stood for”.
Does the far-right still pose a threat?
Matthew Collins, the former far-right activist who now serves as head of intelligence for anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate, believes that the threats posed by the likes of National Action are stronger than ever. The man who, alongside whistleblower Robbie Mullen, helped to foil Renshaw’s murder plot, told The Guardian, “We have a government that sings their song. The electoral path is dead to them, they have no political outlet and that just leaves them staring at society. If you keep pumping out the hate then someone will eventually do it.”
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