‘Lee Rigby revenge’ attacker jailed for life
Zack Davies, 26, who attacked Dr Sarandev Bhambra with a machete and hammer in a Mold supermarket, must serve at least 14 years behind bars
Zack Davies, who screamed ‘white power’ as he attacked Dr Sarendev Bhambra. Photograph: View Finder Pictures
Steven Morris
A loner fascinated with far-right ideologies and violent video games has been jailed for life after launching a racially motivated machete and hammer attack on a dentist of Asian origin.
Zack Davies, who screamed “white power” as he attacked Dr Sarandev Bhambra in a supermarket, was told he would serve at least 14 years behind bars before being considered for parole.
At the time of the attack, Davies claimed he was avenging the death of the soldier Lee Rigby, who was killed by Islamist extremists outside a barracks in south-east London.
He also said the British Isis terrorist nicknamed Jihadi John was an inspiration for the attack, which left 24-year-old Bhambra with severe injuries to his head, back and hand.
Davies, 26, from Mold in north Wales, was found guilty of attempting to murder Bhambra, who is still recovering from his injuries. Bhambra’s family has argued Davies had committed an act of terrorism. They said if the men’s ethnicities had been reversed the family had no doubt it would have been reported as an act of terror.
Judge Rhys Rowlands said Davies had left his home that day intending to kill. He said: “Zack Davies, you subjected Dr Bhambra to a dreadful and sustained attack. Blows were aimed at his head. You were shouting ‘white power’. He desperately tried to get away from you. There were shoppers in the store, some with children. One can only imagine the sheer terror you subjected the victim to.”
The jury at Mold crown court had heard how Davies would sit in his flat playing violent video games for six or seven hours a day. Expelled from school at 11 for bringing in a knife, Davies became a loner and admitted carrying a weapon with him every day since he was 15 because of his growing paranoia.
On 14 January he spotted Bhambra on the street in Mold at lunchtime and followed him to a Tesco supermarket, where he attacked him from behind with a claw hammer and 30cm-long machete in front of shoppers and children.
Bhambra was saved after a former soldier, Peter Fuller, stepped in to help. Davies told Fuller: “We are under attack” – but Fuller said what he was doing was madness and Bhambra had not done anything wrong.
Davies admitted saying “white power” and “I did it for Lee Rigby” during and after the attack. He told the court: “I got very fascinated by Jihadi John and was inspired by him. I even had a mask.”
He was described in court as a racist with a fascination for far-right ideologies. In interviews he told police that maybe the wrong side had won the second world war. The court heard items associated with white supremacy and Nazism were found at Davies’s home, including swastika badges and Combat 18 material.
Davies apologised in court to the family of Lee Rigby and to Bhambra.
The judge praised Fuller for his “remarkable bravery” and said he probably saved Bhambra’s life.
From The Guardian . 11.09.15.
Liveraf Comment. The media don’t seem to have cottoned on to it yet, but Zack Davies is one of the leading lights in National Action, the organisation which has twice attempted to march through the city of Liverpool. To reiterate what Liveraf has already said, these are violent and dangerous people. They have no place in a civilised society and they certainly will not be marching through Liverpool or anywhere else while there are good sound people to oppose them.
