A serving British Army chef, Mark Broadhurst, has been jailed for three years and 10 months for possessing explosives and a firearm in connection with terrorism and extreme right-wing ideology.
Broadhurst, 28, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday after a judge ruled that his weapons offences had a terrorist connection, according to the UK’s Counter Terrorism Policing.
He was arrested at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire in September 2024, where he worked as a chef.
A search of his home in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, uncovered gunpowder, ammunition, firearms, crossbows, knives and a homemade cannon constructed from a piece of wood and a pipe.
Investigators also uncovered online messages in which Broadhurst expressed racist and extreme right-wing views and discussed forming an armed militia.
The court heard that he had communicated for nearly two years with three men, Christopher Ringrose, Brogan Stewart and Marco Pitzettu, who were subsequently convicted of planning a terrorist attack targeting Jewish and Muslim communities in northern England.
The three men were jailed for a combined 29 years in 2025 for terrorism-related and firearms offences, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Broadhurst pleaded guilty to possessing explosives and a firearm without a certificate but disputed that the offences were motivated by terrorism.
Following a hearing examining the basis of his plea, the judge concluded that one reason he possessed the firearm and gunpowder was to make threats of serious violence credible to members of extremist groups whose ideology he sought to advance.
Prosecutors said his online activity showed hatred towards Black, Asian, Muslim and Jewish people, alongside violent and anti-authority views.
Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said Broadhurst had maintained close contact with the three convicted terrorists and was immersed in extremist material.
The British Army said there was no place in its ranks for racist or extremist ideology, describing such beliefs as incompatible with its values.
Broadhurst was also handed a 10-year notification order, according to Counter Terrorism Policing.
