A Neo-Nazi who is serving life imprisonment for plotting terrorist attacks on mosques will next week argue that his sentence should be reduced.
Connor Ward, from Banff, was jailed earlier this year but has lodged an appeal against his conviction and the severity of the sentence.
He will argue his case before a judge in Edinburgh next Thursday.
The 25-year-old was caught with a cache of weapons and bomb-making equipment, as well as a map of all the mosques in Aberdeen.
Ward had previously sparked a bomb scare after threatening to blow himself and his father up, and had pledged to usher in the “demise” of Islam.
He denied breaching the Terrorism Act, but was found guilty following a trial in March.
In April, he was jailed for life and told he would have to serve at least six years before being eligible for parole.
His extensive arsenal of weapons included ball bearings, which could have been used in pipe bombs and in rocket tubes capable of firing the projectiles.
Ward told the court he bought the metal balls on Amazon so he could hunt rabbits but that claim was dismissed by judge Lord Burns.
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The judge said Ward “formed an intention” to use the bearings to attack mosques.
He said: “You had chosen a method of inflicting damage to that target and anyone in it as demonstrated by the purchase of ball bearings and tubes to put them in.
“You had explored means by which you might disguise yourself in order to perpetrate this act and avoid detection.”
Lord Burns added it was clear Ward was “deeply committed” to Neo-Nazi ideology and that if his threats were carried out it would have had “catastrophic results”.
He said: “This involved a high level of research and planning as shown by the vast collection of manuals for the manufacture of IEDs at home.”
Iman Ibrahim Alwawi, of the Aberdeen Mosque and Islamic Centre, described it as “very sad” that Ward had destroyed his life due to “misinformation and promotion of non-tolerance”.
He said: “We promote tolerance and understanding for all and pray that all communities in Aberdeen can come together in unity and help each other as fellow human beings.”
At a brief hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh yesterday, a date was fixed for the appeal next week.
