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A neo-Nazi who plotted to kill a Labour MP in an "attack on democracy" has been jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 20 years.

Jack Renshaw, 23, planned to stab West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper to death with a 19-inch Gladius knife.

He also made threats to kill a female police officer who was investigating him for child sex offences.

The 23-year-old performed the Nazi salute as he was taken from the dock while supporters in the public gallery shouted: "We're with you, Jack."

Moments before his lawyer claimed he was showing "green shoots of recovery".

The convicted paedophile hoped he would die in a hail of police bullets and escape a prison sentence.

But the plan was scuppered by whistleblower Robbie Mullen, who was at a meeting in a pub when Renshaw announced he was going to kill Ms Cooper in July 2017.

It came just a year after Labour MP Jo Cox was stabbed and shot by far-right extremist Thomas Mair.

(Image: central news)

Sentencing him to life, a judge said he is "undoubtedly a dangerous offender" who is a "threat to minority groups, particularly Jewish people".

Speaking directly to Renshaw, he said: "You are an intelligent young man, you may be troubled but you know full well what you have done."

Renshaw, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, is a convicted paedophile who was jailed last June for 16 months after he groomed two underage boys online.

Jurors at Preston Crown Court found him guilty of four counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also received a three-year prison sentence two months earlier when he was found guilty of stirring up racial hatred after he called for the genocide of Jewish people.

(Image: PA)

He went on to admit making preparations to kill his local MP and making a threat to kill police officer Victoria Henderson.

But he denied membership of banned extreme right-wing group National Action and a jury was discharged when they failed to reach a verdict.

Renshaw was sentenced at the Old Bailey by Mrs Justice McGowan.

In a victim impact statement, Rosie Cooper MP said: "To be informed that a stranger wished to decapitate you...is something out of a horror movie, not life as I know it."

(Image: PA)

Last month, whitsleblower Mr Mullen, 25, who leaked details of the plot to Hope Not Hate, revealed he is living in fear after police intelligence revealed he is a target for reprisals.

He said: "The police have offered me witness protection after each death threat but each time I’ve turned it down because I want the option to go back home.

"They would have made me start again, changed my name."

(Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)

Following his conviction, Mr Mullen said: "By reporting Jack Renshaw's murder plot and giving evidence in this court my life has changed. But I know I had no other choice. Jack Renshaw was days away from trying to kill an MP, Rosie Cooper."

Ms Cooper said: "I was to be murdered to send a message to the state. Our way of life, our democracy and our freedoms are being attacked by the likes of Renshaw and extremist groups like National Action.

"We've got to do so much more to protect our democracy, to ensure that good, dedicated, hard-working public servants are not put off entering public life because they fear for their safety, or indeed their lives. We really must do more to protect our way of life."