Ginger fanatic ‘dreamed of killing Prince Charles’

Mark Colborne wanted Prince Harry to be King. Picture: Getty

Mark Colborne, 37, likened himself to Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Breivik and made notes in his diary of his plan to assassinate the royal heir with a high-powered sniper rifle.

He also bought ingredients for deadly poison cyanide over the internet, and stockpiled dust masks, plastic syringes and latex gloves, jurors were told.

Colborne was caught after his half-brother uncovered chemicals and papers detailing his racial hatred stashed in his bedroom at the family home in Southampton.

Following a retrial at the Old Bailey, he was found guilty by a majority of preparing terrorist acts before his arrest in June last year.

The jury convicted him on the basis that Colborne possessed handwritten notes copied from internet sources such as The Terrorist Handbook, The Complete Improvised Kitchen and The Jolly Roger Cookbook about the production of viable explosives.

They also agreed that he had books with titles including Assorted Nasties, Silent Death and The Poor Man’s James Bond, which contained recipes for the production of and delivery systems for lethal poisons such as cyanide.

However, the jury rejected aspects of the allegations that he intended to use the chemicals and paraphernalia as part of the terror plot.

As Judge John Bevan QC adjourned sentencing until next month, he commented that it was a “very strange” case involving a “very strange person”.

The court heard Colborne felt alienated and marginalised for being a white, ginger-haired man and also suffering from agoraphobia and depression.

In his notebook, he wrote: “I don’t want to be a serial killer. I’m more of an Anders Breivik. I have left potential targets open.

“I was waiting for an opportunity to kill one of them. Let it be Prince Charles which would be good.”

He went on to state that he wanted a “silent rifle”, adding: “Take up a good position and put a bullet in Charles’s head.

“He is protected but not too protected. I would sacrifice my life for that one shot.

“Kill Charles and William and Harry become king. Kill the tyrants.”

Prosecutor Annabel Darlow QC said Colborne’s notes expressed hatred for “non-Aryans” whom he referred to as “blacks and caucasian idiots”.

Comparing himself to other right-wing extremists, he wrote: “I’m looking for major retribution, a mass terrorist attack which will bring to the attention our pain, not just mine but my brothers around the world.”