The three things terrorist Alexander Dighton blamed for his vicious attack on police officers
The three things terrorist Alexander Dighton blamed for his vicious attack on police officers
The 28 year-old loner said his grievances which led to his attacks on police had been brewing for 15 years or more.
He made a fire under a police van to lure officers out
(Image: PA )
Sentenced to life for a ferocious attack on a police station in South Wales loner Alex Dighton launched into an unhinged tirade against what he sees as government corruption. He blamed three things that he saw as being possible reasons for violence against the state.
Addressing the judge Mark Lucraft KC at the Old Bailey on June 13 the 28-year-old from Pontyclun, said he was "not interested in fame" but wanted a "conversation" about matters that bothered him.
Airing grievances ranging from lockdown parties held by Boris Johnson to the Tavistock gender clinic, Dighton, who represented himself in court, cited issues he said had been bothering him for years. Sign up for our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.
The Old Bailey heard he defendant harboured extreme anti-Islam, anti-immigration and anti-government views. He had sympathy for far right politics and misogynistic Incel groups.
Alexander Dighton has been jailed for life
(Image: PA Media )
A police investigation into Dighton's activities after the attack showed he had shared some of these entrenched views on social media, including X, and in chat rooms , but they had not been so extreme as to have broken the law. The gamer also identified with characters on Warhammer.
Article continues below
Addressing the court as he faced a life sentence behind bars Dighton said in a matter of fact tone: "I don't care about myself being noticed. Fame is not important to me. What I think is important is having a conversation about where Britain is right now. Whether violence against the state is justified.
"Has the state got to a point where violence is justified? You have grooming gangs and Boris Johnson having parties in lockdown. Open corruption. You have the Tavistock Clinic mutilating children.
'I have been watching this for 15 years…this is years of build up. People have such a short memory.
'I will be done. It doesn't bother me."
Dighton was armed with a knife, sharpened poles and Molotov cocktails when he attacked Talbot Green police station on January 31 this year. Today he was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years in prison for the attack.
The loner, who lived in Pontyclun, previously admitted 10 charges relating to the attack, including attempting to murder of a police officer.
Dighton, who the court hard has been of good behaviour in custody and had no previous convictions, was considered to have been motivated by terrorism, the judge said. He had shown no remorse for the attack which left police officers needing hospital treatment and still held "rigid" and extremist views.
The former prize winning student, who won a Wales-wide competition in advanced mechanical engineering for his computer-aided design of a wobbler engine aged 18, told the court his unhappiness with the system had begun at school.
Diagnosed with Asperger's aged seven he spent two years at a special educational needs primary before going on to mainstream secondary and university. The court heard he had had some mental health problems and a "difficult" family upbringing.
Article continues below
But the judge deemed there were no mitigating factors for the violence he committed at Talbot Green police station, other than early guilty pleas, and he represented a continuing danger with his lack of remorse and entrenched views.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Families to march against knife crime through streets of Glasgow
Starting at 1pm, the Parents Against Knives march will be joined by the family of Kory McCrimmon, who died after an attack involving a bladed weapon on May 31 2024. His family said the 16-year-old's life 'will not be in vain' as they urged others to join the march. The 16-year-old died after he was found seriously injured in Greenfield Park in the east end of Glasgow. A 14-year-old was last month sentenced to five years detention after admitting culpable homicide. Amen Teklay, 15 was found with fatal injuries on Clarendon Street, Glasgow, at around 10.30pm on Wednesday March 5 (Police Scotland/PA) The march comes in the wake of the deaths of teenagers Amen Teklay and Kayden Moy in separate incidents in recent weeks. In a statement issued through Victim Support Scotland, Kory's family previously said: 'Kory McCrimmon's young life was a brushstroke in time but we his family wish for his death to make a difference: Kory's life will not be in vain. 'Our aim here is to continue highlighting the increase in deaths and danger by knife and violent crime. Our sons and daughters are more than statistics, they deserve better. 'Kory's parents are very clear: if we can prevent at least one more family going through this life-shattering agony, we have gone a long way in our mission, but let's go further. 'We walk in Kory's name but we stand for all those lives lost or maimed to knife violence: too much, too many. No more. 'Come join our walk and lend your hearts and voices to making our streets, our young people and our lives safer.' Two boys aged 14 and 16 have appeared in court charged with murder following the death of 15-year-old Amen in the Maryhill area of Glasgow on March 5. Kayden, 16, was found seriously injured on Irvine beach in North Ayrshire after police were called to the area at about 6.45pm on May 17. A 14-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys have appeared in court charged with murder following his death. The Parents Against Knives march will set off from Rangers' Ibrox stadium and those taking part will walk to Celtic Park in the east end of the city. Kayden Moy died following reports of a disturbance at a beach in Ayrshire (Police Scotland/PA) Kate Wallace, chief executive of Victim Support Scotland, said: 'Too many lives are being devastated by knife crime in Scotland. 'Behind every statistic, hundreds of lives are irreversibly impacted with tragic consequences for everyone involved; family, friends, siblings, school mates, and the wider communities in which we all live. 'We support the Parents Against Knives walk, organised entirely by the McCrimmon family in memory of their son Kory, which will undoubtedly help draw attention to this growing crisis. 'These are complex and sensitive situations which require a multi-agency response from the Scottish Government, victim support organisations, police, social work, youth work and others to work together to tackle knife crime and the devastation it causes. People across Scotland deserve to feel safe in their own communities.'
South Wales Argus
2 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Starmer puts skills training at heart of industrial strategy plan
The decade-long plan for 'national renewal' will include £275 million in skills investment to train Britons to do jobs in growth industries which might otherwise require imported labour. The strategy will include specific funding to train people for work in defence, engineering, digital and construction roles. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the strategy 'will help transform our skills system to end the overreliance on foreign labour and ensure British workers can secure good, well-paid jobs in the industries of tomorrow and drive growth and investment right across the country'. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds wants the skills plan to reduce reliance on foreign workers (Ben Whitley/PA) Monday's industrial strategy will be followed later in the week by a new trade plan intended to make the UK the best-connected country in the world to do business. The Prime Minister will launch the industrial strategy hoping it will help in his mission of delivering economic growth. The economy shrank by 0.3% in April, the biggest monthly contraction in gross domestic product for a year-and-a-half, as businesses felt the impact of global uncertainty caused by Donald Trump's tariffs and domestic pressure as a result of hikes to firms' national insurance contributions. Around one-in-seven young people are not in education or employment, and the number of people taking an apprenticeship has fallen by almost a fifth between 2016/17 and 2023/24. The Government hopes the growth sectors identified in the industrial strategy will create 1.1 million new jobs by 2035. The skills package includes capital investment from a £200 million fund which will support new facilities including 'technical excellence colleges' providing specialised training for local industries. The total funding is expected to train thousands more workers by 2029 including computer programmers, IT technicians, electrical and civil engineers. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'Skills rightly run right through the heart of this industrial strategy because they are key to breaking the link between background and success for young people and delivering prosperity for our country.' Stephen Phipson, the boss of manufacturers' organisation Make UK, welcomed the skills announcement. 'We look forward to working with the Government to fix the skills gap in manufacturing, which has been the sector's Achilles' heel for decades,' he said. Other elements of the plan are expected to include measures to help cut energy costs for industries which have complained they are being forced to compete with rivals overseas who face lower bills. Meanwhile some £380 million will be spent on a range of projects intended to double private investment in the creative industries. Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith welcomed the investment in skills but said 'the Government are stepping on the accelerator and the brake at the same time' by hiking national insurance for firms and introducing extra employment rights which could increase costs. 'This inherent contradiction cannot make for a feasible or serious strategy, and will hold the Government to account for it,' he said.
The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Starmer puts skills training at heart of industrial strategy plan
The strategy will include specific funding to train people for work in defence, engineering, digital and construction roles. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the strategy 'will help transform our skills system to end the overreliance on foreign labour and ensure British workers can secure good, well-paid jobs in the industries of tomorrow and drive growth and investment right across the country'. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds wants the skills plan to reduce reliance on foreign workers (Ben Whitley/PA) Monday's industrial strategy will be followed later in the week by a new trade plan intended to make the UK the best-connected country in the world to do business. The Prime Minister will launch the industrial strategy hoping it will help in his mission of delivering economic growth. The economy shrank by 0.3% in April, the biggest monthly contraction in gross domestic product for a year-and-a-half, as businesses felt the impact of global uncertainty caused by Donald Trump's tariffs and domestic pressure as a result of hikes to firms' national insurance contributions. Around one-in-seven young people are not in education or employment, and the number of people taking an apprenticeship has fallen by almost a fifth between 2016/17 and 2023/24. The Government hopes the growth sectors identified in the industrial strategy will create 1.1 million new jobs by 2035. The skills package includes capital investment from a £200 million fund which will support new facilities including 'technical excellence colleges' providing specialised training for local industries. The total funding is expected to train thousands more workers by 2029 including computer programmers, IT technicians, electrical and civil engineers. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'Skills rightly run right through the heart of this industrial strategy because they are key to breaking the link between background and success for young people and delivering prosperity for our country.' Stephen Phipson, the boss of manufacturers' organisation Make UK, welcomed the skills announcement. 'We look forward to working with the Government to fix the skills gap in manufacturing, which has been the sector's Achilles' heel for decades,' he said. Other elements of the plan are expected to include measures to help cut energy costs for industries which have complained they are being forced to compete with rivals overseas who face lower bills. Meanwhile some £380 million will be spent on a range of projects intended to double private investment in the creative industries. Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith welcomed the investment in skills but said 'the Government are stepping on the accelerator and the brake at the same time' by hiking national insurance for firms and introducing extra employment rights which could increase costs. 'This inherent contradiction cannot make for a feasible or serious strategy, and will hold the Government to account for it,' he said.
