Milo Creese’s defence barrister said he had a delusional belief system that there was a ‘lawless society’ and he was a ‘soldier of God’ on a mission to ‘save the world’
A crossbow-wielding arsonist was insane when he targeted an Indian restaurant and 5G masts in a three-week campaign motivated by extreme right-wing ideology, a jury has found. Milo Creese, 40, went on to fire a crossbow bolt through a woman’s window and assault two police officers as they tried to arrest him in Surrey, the Old Bailey heard.
Prosecutor Lyndon Harris said Creese was motivated by terrorism and a extreme mindset which involved a hatred of Muslims and a belief that some atrocities were linked to 5G masts. He suggested Creese knew what he was doing was wrong when he planned explosions with ball bearings and other “very serious violence”.
He told jurors: “The conduct was planned, it was sophisticated and he gathered weapons over a period of time to set these fires and potentially lead to an explosion. This is a series of planned acts of very serious violence.
“They could very easily have resulted in the death of the occupants of the restaurant. The fires caused damage to the broadband network part of the critical infrastructure.”
However, Creese accepted doing the acts alleged against him, but claimed in his defence that he was insane at the time.
Defence barrister James Gray said Creese had a delusional belief system that there was a “lawless society” and he was a “soldier of God” on a mission to “save the world”.
He said: “He consistently reported he was on the side of right against the Islamic extremists. The side opposing his was evil personified, something akin to Islamic State, that they were committing rape and murder on a mass scale.”
On Thursday, a jury found Creese not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of arson with intent to endanger life, two offences of arson, damaging property, having an offensive weapon in public and two assaults on an emergency worker.
The verdict means the trial judge, Judge Richard Marks KC, can consider making a hospital order for Creese’s ongoing treatment under the Mental Health Act. The judge ordered further reports and adjourned the case until November 6.
Previously, the court heard how Creese set fire to an Indian restaurant in the early hours of October 31 last year. A member of the public had raised the alarm at 3.15am after spotting a smoking stick poking out of the letterbox at the 3 Rooms Indian Restaurant in Chertsey, Surrey.
Mr Harris said: “The restaurant was on the ground floor and above it were two residential flats. The fire service attended and contained the fire before further damage could be caused and anyone present in the flats above was hurt.”
Damage was caused to the front door, inside porch area and signage outside, but the fire did not spread further inside, the court heard. An examination of the scene revealed a piece of burned cardboard with several small white balls and metal balls inside it had been put in the letterbox.
CCTV footage showed a barefoot man pushing it inside the letterbox and setting light to it, before running away and making off on a bicycle, the court heard.
At 11.31pm on November 20, Creese targeted a telecommunications box at Spinney Hill, Addlestone. A witness saw him running away from a fire against a large electrical tower shouting: “Go away, it’s going to blow.”
After emergency services put out the fire, a black rucksack was recovered containing bacon rashers, ball bearings and compacted manure, jurors were told.
At around 8.30am on the following day, a control room operator for a company monitoring CCTV at 5G mast locations allegedly saw a man light a bin bag and throw it into a compound before running off. On reviewing the footage, the operator saw the male was holding a crossbow in a black bag and the police were alerted.
Just nine minutes later – and before police could attend the incident involving 5G masts – Chertsey resident Hamaik Donsanjh also telephoned the police, jurors were told. She had been at home when she heard a loud bang and initially thought it was to do with roadworks outside the property.
Mr Harris said: “She then worked out that the bang was in fact a bolt from a crossbow that had come through the window on her first-floor hallway inside her house from the outside.”
The dart was made from black metal and was about 15cm long, the jury was told. CCTV footage from her property captured Creese at her front gate firing the crossbow bolt into her home, damaging the windowpane.
Officers who had been called about the 5G mast fire attended the scene and tasered Creese as he ran away from them, but to no effect, the court was told. During a struggle, Creese hit an officer with the crossbow, rather than firing a bolt at him, jurors heard.
A later examination of Creese’s computer revealed his extreme right-wing ideology including a desire for violence against Muslims, the court was told.
Mr Harris told jurors: “Mr Creese considered that there was a belief that there was some link between Islam and 5G cell masts, and atrocities that Mr Creese believed certain Muslim people were committing.
“It is for that reason, the prosecution case is that Mr Creese’s actions in setting fire to the various sites in this case were done with a terrorist motivation.”
Creese, of Murray Road, Ottershaw, Surrey, had denied the charges against him but declined to answer questions in police interview or give evidence in his trial. The trial heard evidence from three psychiatrists who assessed Creese’s mental state at the time of his actions.
The expert witnesses diagnosed schizoaffective disorder with some suggestion of a possible drug-induced psychosis. The defendant, who attended court remotely from a mental health unit, had a history of heavy crystal meth drug abuse, but had never been in trouble with police before, jurors were told.
Judge Marks told jurors the issue for them to decide was whether, on the balance of probabilities, Creese did not know what he was doing was wrong at the time of the actions.
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