West Sussex man admits terror charge over paintball grenades
He claimed making the weapons to prepare for an 'apocalypse scenario'
Last updated 28th Sep 2021
A West Sussex man has admitted having "improvised paintball grenades" in preparation for what he believed was the coming apocalypse.
Scott Porter, 44, was due to go on trial at the Old Bailey for possessing an explosive substance and three notebooks containing information useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism on October 2 2019.
But on Tuesday, Porter admitted all the charges against him during a hearing before Judge Mark Dennis QC.
Police had uncovered a stash of weapons when they raided his home in Haywards Heath in the autumn of 2019.
The paintball grenades were filled with shards of glass, metal and chili powder, and other weapons included crossbows, knives and knuckledusters.
Porter told police he had the grenades in case an apocalyptic scenario should occur.
Following Porter's guilty plea, Judge Dennis put off sentencing until October 29 for reports to be prepared, saying it was an "unusual case".
He asked for submissions on the seriousness of the offences and the motivation and potential dangerousness of the defendant, who was in "their own world".
Porter, who entered his plea in the dock wearing a pink polo shirt, was remanded into custody.
Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East, said:
"During this investigation it was clear the information found in the possession of Porter would have been useful to someone who wanted to cause harm to our communities.
"Although Porter didn't have a specific ideology, the information he wrote, researched and designed could have been useful to a terrorist with plans to carry out an attack.
"His actions were reckless and the weight of evidence against him left Porter with no choice but to plead guilty to these serious offences."
Detective Superintendent Justina Beeken, of Sussex Police, said:
"We worked closely with Counter Terrorism Policing South East to support their investigation and we are confident there was no specific risk to the local community."