A man who attacked police officers outside a police station has been jailed at the Old Bailey.
Alexander Dighton, 28, used Molotov cocktails and a hatchet to attack officers outside Talbot Green police station in South Wales.
He knocked one officer unconscious and stabbed another in the leg during the attack in Rhondda Cynon Taf on January 31.
Dighton had been referred to Prevent, the anti-terrorism programme, a year earlier in January 2024.
His sister referred him over concerns he held ‘racist and anti-Muslim views’, and may have been involved in incel groups – but it was decided that he ‘did not meet the criteria’ to be included on the scheme.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
When he was interviewed by police after the attack Dighton chillingly said he didn’t consider the scope of damage, ‘merely that blood had to be spilt’.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC told him during sentencing that the offences had ‘a terrorist connection’.
The 28-year-old has now been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years.
He previously pleaded guilty to 10 charges including attempting to murder Detective Constable Jack Cotton and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent to Sergeant Richard Coleman.
Dighton also admitted assaulting PC Joshua Emlyn and threatening PC Stephanie Fleming with an adapted wooden pole.
Judge Lucraft added: ‘It is clear that you continue to hold entrenched views.
‘Other than the early guilty pleas, there is little else to be said to your credit.
‘Whilst they [Dighton’s victims] accept potential violence and difficult confrontations are part of the role of being a police officer, they were all deeply shocked by the nature and ferocity of your attack.’
Dighton: ‘Tolerance for the government has come to an end’
The court heard that originally Dighton planned to attack police officers in his own home.
He was waiting to be picked up by officers after refusing to attend a police station to provide biometric samples in relation to an earlier public disorder incident.
He had sharpened a shovel and had intended to kill any police officers who came to his home in Pontyclun.
When none did, he changed his plan and instead headed to the police station.
During the incident and in interview he said his ‘tolerance for the government had come to an end’ and he had targeted the police as they were a ‘keystone of government power.’
He claimed he wanted to cause as much damage as possible and wanted police officers to bleed.
Searches of his home revealed journals which revealed anti-immigrant ideologies and a desire for a return to ‘traditional’ society.
He prepared for the attack, including wearing a bullet proof vest, as he wanted to cause as much damage as possible.
Detective Superintendent Andrew Williams of counter terrorism policing Wales said: ‘Our investigations show that Dighton was motivated by an extreme anti-government mindset.
‘Dighton was known to us…There was nothing in that referral or in the subsequent assessment that would give any indication whatsoever that Dighton would go on to commit an offence of the nature he did.’
On the night of the attack, Dighton arrived at the police station at about 7pm and threw a petrol bomb at a police van.
When it didn’t ignite, he tried to start a fire by pouring lighter fluid over the van, before smashing the windows of two other vehicles with a pole.
Officers tried to use a Taser to stop him, but it had no effect because Dighton was wearing body armour.
He swung a pole at one officer, punched one in the head, and stabbed another in the thigh which narrowly missed his femoral artery.
Two of the three injured officers were taken to hospital.
Frank Ferguson of the Crown Prosecution Service said Dighton wanted to attack the government and the state.
He explained: ‘We were able to show that Dighton’s attack was not only pre-meditated and meticulously planned, but that his motivations were connected to terrorism.’
‘While it is not a criminal offence to hold extreme or offensive views, it is one to carry out attempted murder and attack police officers because of them.’
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
