Vincent Fuller, 50, was jailed for more than 18 years for the March 16 attack in London. Photo / CPS
Vincent Fuller, 50, was jailed for more than 18 years for the March 16 attack in London. Photo / CPS
A white supremacist "fuelled by hatred of Muslims" who tried to murder a teenager in London a day after the Christchurch mosque shootings has been jailed for more than 18 years.
Vincent Fuller, 50, attacked 19-year-old Dimitar Mihaylov – a Bulgarian national he thought was a Muslim - in a supermarket carpark the day after the New Zealand massacre.
"You are going to die," Fuller said before thrusting a knife several times at Mihaylov who was sat behind the wheel of a parked car.
He suffered a serious defensive stab wound to his hand and a superficial cut to the side of his neck, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told Kingston Crown Court yesterday.
After the attack, local police said they were treating it as a terrorism case.
The knife used by Fuller in his horrifying attack. Photo / CPS
Yesterday he was sentenced to 18 years, nine months in prison. Once eventually released, he will have to keep authorities notified of his movements for the next 30 years.
On the night of March 15, Fuller was at home in Stanwell, outside London in Surrey, with a friend, watching news of the Christchurch attack.
The friend told police that Fuller reacted strongly, agreeing with the actions of the attacker, the CPS said.
Fuller also spoke to his friend about parking issues with his Asian neighbours.
By the next day, Fuller was described by the friend as ranting and raving about others, especially Muslims.
At about 6pm, Fuller was heard outside repeatedly shouting "white supremacy" and making threats to kill Muslims.
Just after 10pm, he went to his downstairs neighbour's flat armed with a baseball bat and using racist language, told her to come out. He was caught on the doorbell camera and the neighbour called the police.
Fuller then went outside and began hitting cars with the bat.
He racially abused one driver and smashed the headlight and damaged the bumper of an Uber driver's car.
When the bat broke, he went back to his home, got changed and headed towards Tesco armed with a knife and carried out the attack.
After running off, Fuller was told to stop by police who were aware of a stabbing.
When he refused, he was tasered and arrested.
Fuller initially denied owning a baseball bat, threatening his neighbour or even seeing anything unusual in the car park.
The driver and his three friends identified Fuller and blood found on Fuller's jacket matched the victim's DNA.
He pleaded guilty in August to the attempted murder of the driver and racially aggravated harassment of his neighbour. He also admitted possession of a knife, and affray.
At his sentencing yesterday, Judge Peter Lodder QC ruled that the attempted murder had a terrorism connection.
"Fuller is a dangerous individual who is fuelled by hatred of Muslims and non-white people," said Jenny Hopkins from the CPS.
"He resisted arrest and brazenly denied all involvement when he first spoke to the police.
"The evidence presented by the CPS led to guilty pleas and I hope his prison sentence will reassure neighbours and the wider community that justice has been done."
