Paul Ray Reveals Details of 2009 EDL Planning Meetings

Back in October, I blogged on a feud between three former Defence League activists: Alan Lake, Lena Andreassen, and Paul Ray. Lake has accused Andreassen of giving his real name to a journalist, and Lake and Ray have accused each other of influencing Anders Behring Breivik. Ray has also used his blog to publicise Lake’s real name – Alan Ayling – and to give alleged details of early English Defence League planning meetings which were held in Lake’s flat in London. Ray was one of the founders of the EDL in 2009, but he was quickly sidelined.

Ray returned to public attention in the wake of Breivik’s massacre; his blog postings apparently caught the eye of the Sunday Times, which yesterday published a report by Dipesh Gadher and Robin Henry entitled “Unmasked: Wealthy Backers Behind Far-Right League”:

A Sunday Times investigation has revealed that Ann Marchini, a mother from Highgate, north London, and Alan Ayling, a former director of an investment fund, have sought to mould the thuggish anti-Muslim group into a credible political force.

They are both linked to the murky world of the online “counter-jihad” movement from which Anders Behring Breivik drew ideological inspiration before committing his massacre in Norway in July. They have remained in the shadows until now by using aliases on the internet to mask their true identities.

…Ayling, 57, has been operating under the alias “Alan Lake”. He is an IT expert and was a director of Pacific Capital Investment Management until January this year. The fund was dissolved in August. (1)

Lake’s flat was the location of an EDL planning meeting in July 2009:

Ray regards the… meeting as “pivotal”. “It was the key people being brought together,” he said. “It was bringing together the ideological and political side with the boots on the ground.”

Ray has had further details on his blog since July 2011:

The very first meeting in London when Steven Yaxley-Lennon aka “Tommy” assumed the leadership role of the English Defence League with Chris Knowles (CLA) and others present whose names I have, Jeff Marsh [see here  -RB] aka Joe Cardiff from Wales was due to attend the meeting but Chris Renton EDL alias John Sheridan prevented him from attending by arranging to meet him about buying hooligan books on the same day.

…It is not going to be very long until the Norwegian police know everyone in Alan Lakes little London flat that day, and who the professor talking about military strategies was. I am sure he was not English, I might be mistaken though, but I think he came from a Scandanavian Country. Chris Knowles of Civil Liberties Alliance knows each of them because I invited him and he invited them, which includes him inviting Lake to the EDL table. 

Somewhat confusingly, Ray also describes two meetings as having taken place:

Ann/Gaia, Alan Lake, Kinana, ‘Richard the Lionheart’ and myself were all present at that first discussion strategy meeting in Alan Lakes flat.

At the second meeting there was Gandalf of the Up Pompeii blog, who is the military strategist/tactician professor, Kinana, Alan Lake, Chris Knowles, Ann/Gaia, myself and Yaxley/Tommy, Kevin Carroll and another one of their family members.

“Kinana” is a friend of Lake, as discussed here. The reference to a “Richard the Lionheart” being present is  a new development:

Below is a screen shot of an email sent to me by Kinana in July 2009 after the first meeting in Lake/Ayling’s London flat before the founding EDL meeting a couple of weeks later.

…As you will see there was a man present at that meeting who called himself ‘Richard the Lionheart’, it is the same man who posts on Jihad Watch under that alias. He is a big ginger haired guy from London, and if my memory serves me correctly he was more militant about the anti-jihad movement…

It was whilst going through my emails to confirm the dates, events taking place and certain individuals being present at the meetings that I came across Kinana’s email. I was shocked and stunned at what I read and amazed how I had totally forgotten.

This is of some interest because Breivik claims to have had a “mentor” who uses the name Richard the Lionheart; however, the name is an obvious moniker for anyone interested in drawing on Templar and Crusader imagery (indeed, Ray himself uses the name “Lionheart”).

Returning to the Sunday Times report:

Two days after the meeting, Ray received an email from “Dominique Devaux”, using the account “gaia2600@hotmail.com”. “Still very interested in helping EDF [sic] grow as a movement,” it stated. It was signed off by “Ann”.

Ann Marchini denies that she is this person, although the Times presents circumstantial evidence to the contrary. She lives in London and owns a number of buy-to-let properties; Ray “says he had previously stayed for ‘a few months’ at one of her rental flats [in]… east London.” “Gaia” recently posted a report at Gates of Vienna about the EDL’s new link-up with the British Freedom Party.

UPDATE: Dagbladet has picked up on Ray’s publication of the Kinana email which mentions “Richard the Lionheart”; the police are looking into it, but not giving any details.

Footnote

(1) A 2008 report from Business Today shows that PCIM was involved in multi-million pound “convertible note” dealings in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. However, although Sunday Times reveals that Lake lives in a flat in a desirable part of central London, it looks to me that previous reports calling him the “millionaire financier” for EDL were indeed exaggerated – he maintains that he only ever donated £200 or so to the EDL, and documents relating to PCIM confirm his occupation as being an IT manager (as he stated to  Dagbladet last week).

8 Responses

  1. How thoroughly revolting of Paul Ray to continue, tirelessly, milking this tragic atrocity for, not only self publicity, but an opportunity to exact revenge on those by whom he considers himself scorned.

  2. Chronologically Lionheart’s jigsaw pieces fit the time frame better than the “insane lone wolf ” picture that is being painted.

  3. Must-watch Video on the Counterjihad Europa Project: Breivik, EDL AlanLake, Swedish Democrats, Norwegian & Swedish Defence Leagues
    http://svtplay.se/t/103535/uppdrag_granskning

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