A NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS man who was jailed after being found guilty of being a member of a banned Neo-Nazi terror group is among the characters depicted in an ITV drama.
The Walk In, starring Stephen Graham, is currently airing on terrestrial television on Monday evenings.
The show is a dramatisation based on a true story regarding a neo-Nazi plot to kill West Lancashire Labour MP Rosie Cooper.
During the first episode, the Friar Penketh pub in Warrington is used as a meeting point for National Action (NA).
Back in 2017, Jack Renshaw, from Skelmersdale, who is currently serving a life sentence for preparing acts of terrorism, announced his bloody intentions during a NA meeting at the pub.
But his plan was scuppered by whistle-blower Robbie Mullen, and he was handed a minimum of 20 years behind bars in May 2019.
The Walk In launched on Monday, October 3, and chronicles the murderous plan and how it was foiled by the anti-fascism campaign group Hope not hate (Hnh).
One of the characters portrayed is based on a convicted member of National Action, Matthew Hankinson, from Newton-le-Willows.
During a court case heard at the Old Bailey in 2018, Hankinson, then 24, of Market Street, Earlestown, was sentenced to six years imprisonment.
Hankinson had stood trial alongside five other defendants in a month-long trial at the famous London court.
The prominent member of the Neo-Nazi group, described by Mr Justice Jay as someone who hated ethnic minorities and Jews, and advocated violence, was given the six-year jail sentence.
The character Matt Hankinson appears in The Walk In, played by Bobby Schofield.
He is a protestor, who appears in a protest during the first episode of the series.
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The ITV drama centres on informant Robbie Mullen, his handler at Hnh, Matthew Collins – played by Graham – and how the organisation infiltrated banned far-right terror group National Action (NA) and prevented the attack in 2017.
Mr Mullen, a former member of NA, spent a prolonged time undercover as a mole for Hnh.
His information about the plot and the activities of NA was passed on to the police and resulted in a high-profile trial at the Old Bailey.
The plot to kill Ms Cooper came just a year after the terrorist murder of fellow Labour MP Jo Cox.
Since NA was proscribed as a terrorist group for glorifying Ms Cox’s killing, 19 extremists have been successfully prosecuted for being members.
NA leader Christopher Lythgoe, of Greymist Avenue in Woolston, Warrington, was jailed for eight years in July 2018 after he was found guilty of being a member of the proscribed group.
Charity Hope Not Hate, with Mr Mullen's help, also exposed how the group used a converted lock-up on Wellington Street in Howley as a gym to train for an 'imminent race war'.
The Walk-In full cast list:
Matthew Collins: Stephen Graham
Robbie Mullen: Andrew Ellis
Alison: Leanne Best
Chris Lythgoe: Chris Coghill
Brenda: Shvorne Marks
DS Donkor: Ryan McKen
Matt Hankinson: Bobby Schofield
Jack Renshaw: Dean-Charles Chapman
Nick Lowles: Jason Flemyng
Zack Davies: Samson Cox-Vinell
Peter Fuller: David Nellist
DC Buckley: Jodie Prenger
How to watch The Walk-In
You can watch the show on ITV Hub here.
The show also airs weekly at the same time, 9pm, on Mondays on ITV One.
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