A TEENAGER caught with homemade explosives and books on Nazism in his bedroom has received a hospital order.
Jack Coleman was arrested on March 14 this year after his mother found ‘explosive substances’ in his High Wycombe bedroom, including an IED.
After she informed police about what she found, Amersham Hill was closed off by police to the public for several hours, including access to High Wycombe Railway Station.
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Coleman, who was 18 years old at the time of the offence, pleaded guilty at Aylesbury Crown Court to one count of possession of an explosive substance for an unlawful purpose.
At a sentencing hearing at Luton Crown Court on Wednesday (November 22), Judge Geoffrey Payne handed Coleman, now 20 years old, a Section 37 hospital order under the Mental Health Act 1983 due to his recent diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and autism.
Coleman’s defence argued against the young man receiving a Section 41 restriction, which means that someone under the order can only be discharged from the hospital if the Secretary of State for Justice agrees.
She stated a Section 37 hospital order ‘would suffice’.
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However, Judge Payne enforced the restriction stating that it was ‘necessary to manage the risk’.
This was after Dr Pankaj Agarwal gave evidence about the order providing ‘a safety net’ for Coleman.
He said: “I think a Section 41 will give that extra power, that extra support for Mr Coleman, even though he is complying with this medication.
“We’re looking to manage the risk also with the mental disorder.”
Judge Payne agreed, stating: “[A Section 41] is not a punishment, it’s a means of managing risk. I’m satisfied that, due to the nature of these offences and your history of mental health, that it is necessary.
“The need for this is to manage your conditions and make sure nothing like this happens again.”
During sentencing, the court heard that Coleman, who is of previous good character, had expressed an interest in fighting in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
His mother then found ‘two homemade bombs’ by his television, one described as being 'long and thin with a wire’ and the other looked ‘like fireworks’.
Coleman has reportedly told him mother he was going to 'set them off in the woods'.
There were also two glass bottles with 100ml of isopropyl alcohol, 53mg of black powder, and books about how to make IEDs, Nazism and the Cold War.
One book was titled: “Chemistry of Explosives”.
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Judge Payne made a forfeiture and destruction order for the explosive devices and associated paraphernalia.
Coleman will now be returned to the hospital for ongoing treatment until the Secretary of State agrees to release him following a tribunal.
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