Three Nazi-worshipping extremists who believed a race war was imminent have been found guilty of planning terrorist attacks on mosques and synagogues.

Brogan Stewart, 25 from West Yorkshire, Christopher Ringrose, 34 from Staffordshire and Marco Pitzettu, 25, from Derbyshire were found guilty of terrorism offences at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday.

A jury rejected their claims that they were fantasists who were not serious when they discussed attacks online.

During the nine-week trial, the court heard they had amassed 200 weapons including machetes, hunting knives, swords and crossbows were found at their homes.

Ringrose had also started to build a 3D-printed semi-automatic firearm at the time of his arrest and was trying to get the remaining parts.

The prosecutor told the jury that the defendants formed a group called Einsatz 14 in January 2024, with "like-minded extremists" who wanted to "go to war for their chosen cause.

They were unaware that a number of those who joined were undercover officers.

Sheffield Crown Court was told how Stewart, who called himself the "Fuhrer", had detailed torturing a Muslim leader using an "information extraction kit".

They were also shown a short video Stewart, posted of himself wearing a German army helmet, a Nazi armband and a skull face covering.

The Al-Amin Islamic Education Centre in Leeds featured heavily in their plans. Stewart recorded a voice note with his getaway plans.

He said: "Where that roundabout is, we can stop there we can uncover the plates, we can get rid of masks and then we can drive off."

The officer asked Stewart for more detailed information about the plan and he replied that they could smash windows or ambush someone, the court heard.

Stewart said: "It depends how far we are willing to go. It could be a beating with batons and bats or something more serious."

MP Fabian Hamilton, whose Leeds constituency includes the islamic centre, said he was deeply concerned by the danger the men had posed.

The trio, who are not believed to have met in the real world before they appeared together in the dock of a court, were arrested when security services believed an attack was imminent. The group idolised Hitler and the Nazis, shared racist slurs and glorified mass murderers.

All three were convicted of a charge of preparing acts of terrorism and charges of collecting information likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism.

Ringrose was also convicted of manufacturing a prohibited weapon, while Pitzettu pleaded guilty to obtaining an illegal stun gun at a previous hearing.

The defendants will be sentenced on July 17.

The judge, Mrs Justice Cutts, told them: “You must all expect substantial custodial sentences”.

A trio of Nazi-adoring right-wing extremists would have attacked a place of worship or education with potentially fatal consequences if they had not been arrested, a senior anti-terrorism detective has said.

Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley said: "Stewart, Pitzettu, and Ringrose have today been rightfully convicted of multiple terrorism offences. They were a group that espoused vile racist views and advocated for violence, all to support their extreme right-wing mindset.

“Some of their defence in court was that it was all fantasy or just part of harmless chat, however all three took real world steps to plan and prepare for carrying out an attack on innocent citizens.

It was when the trio's conversation changed to identifying a real-world target, that officers took the action to arrest them.

Bethan David, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said: "Had Christopher Ringrose managed to completely finish building the 3-D printed semi-automatic firearm that he had started to, it could have been used leading to devastating consequences.

"The prosecution case against the defendants included their disturbing Telegram and Facebook chats as well as acquiring military equipment such as riot shields, body armour and an arsenal of weapons found at their home addresses that were to be used in readiness for a ‘race war’.