Ex-UK army chef Mark Broadhurst has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison after police found a homemade gun and explosives at his home. The 28-year-old former military cook was motivated by extreme right-wing beliefs and showed a clear interest in violence and weapons capable of causing serious harm.
Broadhurst was arrested in September 2024 at his army barracks. Officers had discovered online messages in which he expressed racist views, talked about forming a militia, and shared plans to make homemade firearms that he wanted to sell to right-wing groups. He was also active in a Telegram group that included three other men. Those three were later jailed for a combined 29 years after plotting terrorist attacks on mosques or synagogues as part of what they saw as a coming “race war.”
When police searched Broadhurst’s home they recovered knives, crossbows, black powder, 9mm ammunition, air pistols, and what they described as an improvised homemade cannon. He pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm and to making or possessing an explosive under suspicious circumstances. However, he denied that the items were linked to terrorism.
A judge at Sheffield Crown Court disagreed. The court ruled that Broadhurst’s offences were connected to terrorism because of his immersion in extremist material and his prolonged contact with the three convicted terrorists. He was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison.
Frank Ferguson, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said Broadhurst was clearly interested in violence and in developing weapons that could cause untold harm to innocent people. Prosecutors highlighted that he stayed in close contact with men inspired by SS tactics and white supremacist ideology for a long period.
The case underlines how online extremism and practical preparations for violence can lead to serious criminal consequences, even for someone with a military background. Broadhurst’s actions and associations crossed a line that the justice system treated as a genuine threat.
