A Nazi-obsessed knifeman who stabbed an asylum seeker in the chest at a hotel in what he claimed in his own “terrorist manifesto” was his “duty to England” has been found guilty of attempted murder.
Callum Ulysses Parslow, who has Adolf Hitler’s signature tattooed on his left forearm, stabbed Nahom Hagos in the chest and hand at the Pear Tree Inn at Hindlip, Worcestershire, in a claimed “protest” against small boat crossings, after buying a “specialist” 1,000 US dollars (£770) knife online.
Parslow, 32, made the four-and-a-half-mile journey to the rural hotel on 2 April to stab “one of the Channel migrants” because he was “angry and frustrated” at small boat crossings, the 32-year-old told his three-week trial at Leicester Crown Court.
The white supremacist, who denied attempted murder but admitted wounding, was found guilty of attempted murder on Friday after jurors deliberated for four hours and 18 minutes.
The trial was told Parslow ran off towards a canal after the stabbing, where he was spotted with what appeared to be blood on his hands.
The court heard that as police closed in, Parslow attempted to post the manifesto document to X, formerly Twitter, tagging in Tommy Robinson and prominent politicians including Sir Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak, Nigel Farage and Suella Braverman, but the message failed to send because he had copied in too many recipients.
In the document, the jury heard, the former supermarket worker claimed he “just did my duty to England” by trying to “exterminate” his victim.
He also railed against what he termed the “evil enemies of nature and of England” who he identified as “the Jews, the Marxists and the Globalists” he said were responsible for demonising Christianity, white people and European culture.
Prosecutor Tom Storey KC told the trial it was clear the manifesto was intended for publication online as it ended with a list of X handles or tags, which also featured those of Ukip and news outlets including the BBC and GB News.
Laurence Fox, Nick Griffin, Donald Trump, Lee Anderson, Liz Truss, Michael Gove, Lord David Cameron, Richard Tice and Boris Johnson also featured in the list of those who Parslow tried to tag in, the court heard.
Mr Storey said a police search of Parslow’s flat in Bromyard Terrace, Worcester, led to the recovery of a second knife in a sheath, an axe, a metal baseball bat, a red armband bearing a swastika, a Nazi-era medallion and copies of Mein Kampf.
Police decided after the stabbing that it gave rise to the suspicion that it was an act of terrorism and Parslow was interviewed by officers, but answered no comment to questions asked of him.
During the Crown’s opening speech, the jury was told CCTV footage from The Pear Tree Inn showed the defendant’s arrival at the hotel and his attack upon Mr Hagos, who is originally from East Africa.
Blood which contained a DNA profile matching that of 25-year-old Mr Hagos was found on the blade of the knife abandoned by Parslow, whose email address included the phrase “lordadolfreborn”.
Details of the trial could not be reported until a court order was lifted on Friday after Parslow pleaded guilty to an unconnected sexual offence and two charges under the Malicious Communications Act.
He showed no reaction as he was found guilty of attempted murder, and pleaded guilty minutes later to offences committed in July and August last year, including one of intentional exposure of his genitals in a video he sent from a Facebook account.
Parslow was remanded in custody and will be sentenced by Mr Justice Dove at Woolwich Crown Court on a date to be fixed.
Explaining the circumstances of the attempted murder to the jury, Mr Storey said: “The defendant’s actions that day were carefully planned, and were driven by a particular ideology, specifically an extreme right-wing ideology, which had led him to identify and target his victim on the basis of his ethnicity.”
Mr Hagos was eating a meal in a conservatory when he was attacked and said of his survival: “I still look at it as a miracle. God saved me.”
The CCTV of the stabbing and its aftermath showed Mr Hagos, obviously bleeding and in distress, fleeing onto a car park and being chased by Parslow.
Mr Hagos was able to run back into the main reception area, where the hotel manager locked the front door, preventing Parslow from re-entering the building, although he later re-entered through another door apparently searching for further victims.
The hotel manager and a builder used a van to take Mr Hagos to hospital in Worcester, as they felt he was losing too much blood.
After his arrival at hospital, Mr Hagos was found to have an 8cm-long wound to his left chest, which had not penetrated any of his vital organs.
