Survivalist gets 43 months for stockpiling bomb materials

A survivalist who stockpiled bomb making materials as he planned for the day ‘when civilisation came under threat’  has been jailed for 43 months.

Michael Pym-Nixson, 54, was arrested by officers from Counter-Terrorism Command at his flat in Kingston, southwest London on 22 March last year.

A thorough police investigation found he was ‘not in pursuit of any right-wing ideology’, said prosecutor Tom Payne.

Paramedics had been called to his flat several days earlier to treat him for a burnt hand and reported him to police when he failed to give an adequate explanation for his injuries.

Officers retrieved chemicals including potassium chlorate and red phosphorus which can be combined to make Armstrong’s mixture, which is a highly sensitive explosive.

They found quantities of charcoal powder, sulphur and potassium nitrate which can be mixed to form black powder – otherwise known as gunpowder.

He had enough chemicals to make 308 grams of Armstrong’s mixture and over 6,000 grams of black powder.

Just several grams of black powder ‘burns fiercely’ and could cause substantial damage to people and property in the vicinity, said Mr Payne.

Judge Gregory Perrins told Pym-Nixson: ‘These were potentially very harmful substances when mixed together in the way you indented.’

He accepted Pym-Nixson has ‘long-standing views about how to survive’ and there is no ‘evidence of an extremist mindset’.

‘I accept that this is not a terrorism case,’ he said.

‘It was not the case that you were seeking to make explosives to harm anyone or any specific groups.

‘You were making them in the event of some future breakdown in society.’

Although the constituent ingredients have other legal uses, police discovered handwritten notes in a spiral-bound notebook with the recipes for Armstrong’s mixture and black powder.

He had created a YouTube playlist containing other people’s instructional videos of how to make the explosives.

Although his channel only attracted seven subscribers, Judge Gregory Perrins found it to be an ‘aggravating feature’.

They found a DIY gunpowder cookbook in an outside shed and a book entitled ‘The Ultimate Survival Guide’, evidencing his survivalist mentality.

Peter Rowlands, defending, said: ‘He saw himself as a survivalist or prepper.

‘He was obsessed by the breakdown in society and the resulting need for protection and survivalist skills.

‘They were kept for the day when civilisation came under threat and there would be a need for self-defence.’

The substances had been obtained legally over a number of years and the stockpile had been ‘unused in its entirety until 19 March 2020’, he added.

On that date, he had intentionally detonated two envelopes containing small quantities of Armstrong mixture but a third detonated in his hand – causing the injuries.

There is no evidence that he ever made black powder.

Neighbours heard a number of loud bangs coming from his flat and a cloud of smoke was seen over the communal garden on 19 March last year.

Police received a 999 call from the address, in which a woman said Pym-Nixson had burnt his hand on a firework.

He could be heard in the background saying: ‘I did it on a firework.’

Pym-Nixson told the paramedics that he was ‘sorting through box of old things, picked up a firework and it went off in his hand’, said Mr Payne.

Paramedics saw screws and nails on the floor but Pym-Nixson said they were they because he was sorting out his toolbox.

They advised him to go to hospital and even called him a taxi but he refused.

The next day, officers went to the address for a welfare check and Pym-Nixson refused to let them in but said he had burnt his hand on a gas hob.

He was arrested on 22 March and went back to his original story, telling police in an interview that the injury was caused by an old firework.

‘He said he’d not been trying to make bombs of any description,’ said Mr Payne.

But evidence from his notebook, as well as his YouTube channel suggested that he did not have the chemicals for lawful purposes.

‘Handwritten notes found at his home and made by defendant suggested that making Armstrong’s mixture was what he intended,’ said Mr Payne.

He was sent to hospital on 22 March with three deep thermal burns that were so serious that he required surgery.

A search of his small flat took a week to complete pastry because it was very untidy, but also because of the ‘volatile’ nature of the chemicals, said Mr Payne.

When a sample of red powder was taken for analysis, it burst into flames and had to be put out in the sink.

Pym-Nixson explained his survivalist views in a later interview and said the chemicals have legitimate uses such as potassium nitrate in food, red prosperous to make matches, and potassium chlorate as an antiseptic.

He earlier admitted two counts of possessing explosive substances at Southwark Crown Court.

The offence of possessing explosive substances contrary to Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883 carries the maximum of life imprisonment.

Pym-Nixson, of St George’s Road, Kingston-upon-Thames was jailed for 43 months.

Judge Perrins ordered the forfeiture of the chemicals and a Serious Crime Prevention Order meaning he must not acquire or purchase a number of chemicals for five years when he is released from prison.

Pym-Nixson appeared in court wearing a grey prison tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his identity.