Farmer 'angry over Brexit' kept cyanide in the fridge to 'kill Remainers', court hears
A farmer with an interest in white supremacy kept cyanide in his refrigerator in order to kill Remainers after becoming frustrated over Brexit, a court has heard.
Russell Wadge, 58, stored the poison next to tins of beer at his country home in Carmarthenshire.
But the married father was arrested in June last year when counter terror police raided his property in the village of Trimsaran.
As well as the deadly chemicals, police also found an arsenal of weapons including grenades, and mines along with a book entitled How Terrorists Kill.
Officers discovered ingredients to make the "very dangerous explosive" called triacetone triperoxide TATP - as used in the Manchester Arena bombing.
Newport Crown Court heard how Mr Wadge also had an interest in white supremacy and the English Defence League and had conducted internet research on the Christchurch terror attack.
Prosecutor Tom Little QC said during the period when he was stockpiling the chemicals, he was also becoming "increasingly angry and frustrated with Brexit".
As well as the cyanide found at his home in Wales, police also found hydrogen cyanide at a property he owned in Portugal.
But Mr Wadge has denied claims that he was plotting a terror attack against Remainers, and has insisted he simply had an interest in Chemistry because "explosives are fun."
Mr Little told the jury that the defendant was not "misunderstood" but was in fact "dangerous."
He told the jury: "We say the case against the defendant is clear when you strip away the smoke, the white powder, the phosphorus, and his bluster and fobbing off and attempts to claim he has been misunderstood.
"Force your way through that front door of Baglan Farm and that locked door in the Portugal house that he is trying to keep shut from you and you can see the reality of the world he frequented.
"The world he frequented wasn't just unusual, weird, and wacky, it was ultimately dangerous and unlawful."
Giving evidence during the trial, the farmer insisted there was an innocent explanation for the chemicals in his refrigerator.
He said: "I have an interest in nerve agents - they are toxic which is interesting. Explosives are interesting, because they blow things up. It's interesting."
He said he had not realised that the law changed in 2016 to ban people from owning cyanides and had stored such chemicals for 25 years.
But Mr Little said: "We say in the course of the months of 2018 and 2019 the defendant was becoming increasingly angry and frustrated with Brexit.
"We have a man who, of all the times, suddenly gets into purchasing chemicals - not just explosives but hydrogen cyanide, which has lethal toxicity - and researching nerve agents.
"Something was going on behind closed doors that he doesn't want you to know about."
When questioned by police about far right internet searches, Mr Wadge said he did not believe in any extremism.
Defending Paul Hynes QC said Wadge was an "extraordinary enthusiast".
He said: "The prosecution say it's about the B word. That was the best they could do - it's all about Brexit.
"Mr Wadge, having committed no previous criminal offences except for the guilty pleas he entered as a result of the raid on Baglan Farm, all of a sudden because he's frustrated about Brexit suddenly decides to synthesise hydrogen cyanide and is going to attack Remainers and pick them off one by one by squirting them in the face and killing them."
The defendant denies 28 charges of possessing explosive devices and chemical weapons. He admitted five charges of unlawful possession of poisonous chemicals without a licence.
The trial continues.
