A father and son described as “Nazi zealots” have been jailed for a total of 12 years at Newcastle Crown Court.

Ian Davison, a 41-year-old disc jockey, became the first man in England and Wales to be convicted of a terrorism-related offence involving the lethal poison ricin. He was given 10 years in prison.

Davison, from County Durham, had already pleaded guilty to six offences including production of the ricin.

His son Nicky Davison, a 19-year-old former milkman, also from County Durham, had been found guilty after a trial also at Newcastle of three counts of possessing terror documents. He received a two year jail sentence.

The pair had started an extreme right wing online group called the Aryan Strike Force. Nicky Davison’s trial heard that they planned to overthrow the government because they believed it had been taken over by Jews.

The website was set up to form a group that would be ready to act and fight against ZOG – Zionist Occupied Government.

Stewart Laidlaw, the Crown Prosecution Service counter terrorism division case lawyer, said after the sentencing hearing that father and son were “Nazi zealots who believed in white supremacy and revered Adolf Hitler. They hated minority ethnic groups, be they Black, Asian, Muslim or Jewish.

“A search of Ian Davison’s home resulted in the discovery of a quantity of ricin. Expert evidence suggested it was about 10 fatal doses. Ian Davison made that ricin.

“I decided that Ian Davison should be charged with producing a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Act 1996. He is the first person to be convicted of that offence in the UK. I was also satisfied that the evidence as a whole supported a charge of preparing for acts of terrorism.”

Mr Laidlaw said that the evidence for preparing for acts of terrorism included:

• Ian Davidson’s production of ricin;
• collection and distribution of terror manuals;
• internet posts encouraging violence for the “cause”.

He added: “There was also his production and posting of a video showing pipe bombs being detonated. Recovered from his computer were chat room conversations with like-minded persons about potential acts of terror.

“It may be that there was no specific plan or target but the law does not require there to be. People should make no mistake about how serious Ian and Nicky Davison were in their hatred of anyone who they considered a ‘threat’ to ‘their’ race.

It is clear that they wanted to take violent, direct action and to that end they both downloaded terror manuals from the internet.”