Pair Face Trial Over Pipe Bombs

A pair of British survivalists are facing up to five years in jail on nuclear charges after horrified police found a deadly cache of bomb-making equipment at their home.

The pair – not named in local media – were arrested earlier this year in Ruden, Carinthia State, Austria, with an Austrian co-conspirator, who also faces charges.

All three – reported local media – are charged with conspiring to use “a nuclear fuel, a radioactive substance, an explosive” to create bombs.

Both Britons – aged 67 – and their 29-year-old co-accused are said to be cult followers who were preparing for the end of the world.

Inside the ramshakle home police discovered components of male lethal pipe bombs, including 1.5 kilogrammes (3.3 lbs) of TNT, 8.5 kilogrammes (18.7 lbs) of black powder, ball bearings and steel tubing.

The deadly concoction – including sulfuric acid – was enough to create nine powerful DIY bombs.

Police also found 20 detonators and a mobile phone which prosecutors believe was to be used as a trigger

Powerful hunting rifles, military assault rifles, shotguns, handguns and boxes of ammunition, were also found at the property.

The three accused are to stand trial at Klagenfurt District Court as of Tuesday, 22nd August.

Public Prosecutor’s spokesperson Tina Frimmel-Hesse said: “Such cases are very rare.

“The quantity was sufficient to produce eight pipe bombs with a devastating effect.”

Frimmel-Hesse added that the offenders refused to reveal what they had planned to do with the explosives when questioned.

The three people were arrested after one of them called for an ambulance during a medical emergency, according to local media.

When astonished paramedics saw the arsenal they immediately called the police who arrested the three inhabitants and sealed the estate.

A fourth accomplice – supposedly a 68-year-old Austrian national – remains at large, say police.

A spokesman for the Klagenfurt State Prosecution told Newsflash: “The men will be in court over the illegal possession of weapons and explosives.”

The three men reportedly lived a very reclusive life and had no interest in talking to their neighbours.

However, one local told Newsflash: “The house they acquired some years ago is extremely dilapidated.

“The region is very quiet and rural, not a lot is going on there.

“Their neighbours don’t know anything about the three men. It has to be seen whether they were part of some conspiracy network or just weird hermits.”