Man who planned to attack gay pride event detained in hospital
Ethan Stables had planned to kill everyone at the gay pride event
By Steve Brown
A man who planned to carry out an attack at a gay pride event has been detained in hospital.
Ethan Stables was arrested by armed police as he made a last visit to the pub New Empire in his hometown of Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, last summer.
Officers discovered Stables had kept a machete, an axe and knives at his home which he was allegedly going to use to carry out the attack.
Stables was furious when he learnt the pub was planning to host a gay pride event and posting on far-right pages, he said he was “going to war” and wanted to “slaughter every single one of the gay bastards”.
Officers were alerted when Stables wrote on Facebook: “There’s a pride night. I’m going to walk in with a machete and slaughter every single one of them.
“I don’t care if I die. I’m fighting for what I believe in and that is the future of my country, my folk and my race.”
During a trial at Leeds Crown Court, the then 20-year-old was convicted of preparing an act of terrorism, making threats to kill and possessing an explosive substance in suspicious circumstances, the North West Evening Mail reported.
Police also found he researched firearms and had looked into methods for making a bomb.
Jurors were told Stables, who had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, promoted homophobic, racist and Nazi views.
Stables also said he made the racist and homophobic comments to fit in with people he was speaking with online and he told jurors that he was politically liberal and bisexual admitting he had sexual experiences with men.
His mother, Elaine Asbury, said during the trial that her son had been radicalised when he went to visit his girlfriend in Germany.
She also said she didn’t receive much support from the mental health services while looking after her son.
Asbury also admitted she threw him out of her home when he was 17 because he threatened to decapitate her and burn the house down.
The judge concluded the trial and said: “It’s my clear decision that, for the protection of the public, a hospital order and restriction order are necessary.”