HATEFUL ATTACK
‘Lone wolf’ petrol bomber made shock online rants about migrants months before attack that’s being probed by terror cops
A "LAUGHING" petrol bomber who attacked a migrant centre in a "hate-filled grievance" made sick racist remarks online before the horror.
Andrew Leak, 66, travelled from his home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, to Dover in Kent to lob "crude" incendiary devices from his car.
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The grandad was found dead at a nearby petrol station after reportedly hanging himself following the attack on Sunday.
Kent Police yesterday began searching Leak's £350,000 home more than 118 miles away.
The investigation is now being led by counter-terrorism police after a "number of items of interest were recovered".
These included digital media devices, which are currently being examined by police.
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Officers say there is nothing to suggest Leak was working alongside anyone else as they continue to establish a motive.
There is not believed to be a "wider threat" to the High Wycombe or the Dover area, cops confirmed.
His public Facebook page paints an alarming picture with sickening rants about migrants.
Leak, who refers to himself as a "bad boy from Woolwich", also shared shocking racist posts in the months leading up to the attack.
Detective Chief Superintendent Olly Wright, Head of CTPSE, said: "This was a traumatic incident for everyone involved, and the wider community, and we’re working hard to establish exactly what led to the events on Sunday morning.
"We understand that when Counter Terrorism Policing become involved, it can be worrying for some people, but I would like to reassure people that there is nothing to suggest any ongoing wider threat at this time.
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"What appears clear is that this despicable offence was targeted and likely to be driven by some form of hate filled grievance, though this may not necessarily meet the threshold of terrorism.
"At this point, the incident itself has not been declared a terrorist incident, but this is being kept under review as the investigation progresses."
A source told The Sun Leak had previously been investigated by police and threatened to take his own life when quizzed by officers.
He was placed under supervision near his home but it is unclear if any charges were brought.
The source also revealed how the suspect was caught the night before the attack carrying out a reconnaissance mission of the site.
Security guards had spotted him acting suspiciously while in his white SEAT car but failed to report it to police, it is claimed.
He then hurled abuse at coach drivers who were waiting to carry migrants away from the site.
The source told The Sun: "It's outrageous that these security guards failed to act on behaviour which was clearly suspicious.
"He did laps of the car park and was parked for some time in darkness.
"It was a carefully planned, well prepared, pre-thought-out ambush rather than a spur of the moment attack.
"Had the police been told about his recce, this whole horror incident might have been prevented."
Chilling footage showed the suspect chucking the bombs - one of which did not go off - from a white SEAT car.
The devices appeared to be a lit firework taped to a plastic cannister.
Local Gary Smith, 31, claimed the driver was laughing as he flung them out of the window.
He said: “I was walking over a nearby bridge and I could see him throwing the bombs.
“They were making loud bangs. I think he threw about four or five.
“He was just laughing while he was doing it. It was crazy."
Another terrified witness said the explosion sounded like "cannons going off" as "all hell broke loose".
MIGRANT CRISIS
The horror, which left two other people injured, caused a mass evacuation of around 700 migrants from the Western Jet Foil site.
It came as the migrant crisis deepens in the UK with Suella Braverman now battling to keep her job as Home Secretary in the wake of the chaos.
Growing numbers of people travelling across the Channel means immigration centres are becoming overcrowded with conditions deteriorating.
Sir Roger Gale, Conservative MP for North Thanet, said there are now more than 4,000 people at a facility in Manston the migrants were moved to in a "breach of humane conditions".
He said: "Up until about five weeks ago the system was working as it was intended to, very well indeed.
"It's now broken and it's got to be mended fast."
Ms Braverman yesterday claimed Britain faces an “invasion of our southern coast”.
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It also emerged illegal migrants kept at Manston for longer than is lawful could net £6,000 each in compensation.
Labour and other critics claim Ms Braverman is to blame because she refused to move some of the migrants to hotel accommodation instead.
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