FAR right extremist Ethan Stables told fellow Nazi sympathisers that he was "going to war" on the night he was arrested on his way to the New Empire pub in Barrow, a court has heard.

On day two of his trial at Leeds Crown Court the jury was told Stables was a white supremacist who hated Jews, Muslims and gay people.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford told the jury at Leeds Crown Court in his opening statement that Stables had carried out research in the nine months leading up to his arrest with a view to carrying out a "murderous rampage".

Much of the prosecution's evidence so far has been based on the contents of Stables' mobile phone and social media accounts.

The court heard Stables, of Egerton Court in Barrow, was a "Nazi and supporter of Adolf Hitler" who was enraged at the New Empire pub in Barrow hosting a gay pride event on June 23 of last year.

On the day of the event Stables is alleged to have carried out st least three reconnaissance visits to the pub where he took photographs.

The prosecution argues he intended to return later that night with a collection of weapons he had gathered at his flat including a machete, knives and an axe.

The jury has been shown CCTV footage from the nearby Kings Arms which shows Stables looking through the window of the pub on the afternoon of June 23 last year.

Stables had taken pictures of the pub on his phone which showed a LGBT rainbow flag flying above the door of the new Empire.

At the same time, he sent a message to a group chat on Facebook to fellow far right extremists, saying: "There's a pride night. I'm going to walk in with a machete and slaughter every single one of them."

When others in the group chat tried to dissuade him from his planned attack, Stables responded: "I don't care if I die. I'm fighting for what I believe in and that is the future of my country, my folk, and my race."

Others meanwhile, encouraged him by declaring the Nazi salute "Sieg Heil!"

Stables, who turned 20 last week, had also vowed: "I'm going to war tonight. If I don't reply tomorrow then I'll be sleeping on the cold, hard floor of Haverigg Prison."

As the jury heard the details of the prosecution's case against Stables the defendant sat calmly in the dock, making notes to himself, and occasionally smoothing his hair.

The jury was also told Stables had searched for "fascist haircuts" and looked online to see if "you get haircuts in prison".

One image found on his mobile phone depicted the 2016 massacre of 49 LGBT people at a nightclub in Orlando as an arcade shooting game with a high score to beat.

Just four hours after making the threats, and after one of the people in the chat reported his threats to police, Stables was arrested on Michaelson Road, just a 20-second walk away from the New Empire.

Although he did not have any weapons on him at the time, police visited his flat and found a number of weapons including a machete and an axe, lined up.

The jury was shown pictures taken inside his flat at Egerton Court which showed he had experimented with making match head explosives.

A large swastika flag was pinned on one of the walls with an air rifle propped up against it.

The jury has been told of numerous Google searches Stables had carried out on his Nokia mobile phone in the seven months leading up to his arrest.

These included "how to be declared criminally insane" and "I want to go on a killing spree."

One of his posts on Facebook quoted the '14 words' slogan often declared by white supremacists: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

Stables also carried out extensive research on explosives, how to make a bomb and a gun, and looked into ways he could obtain a gun licence even though he had mental health issues.

A search of Stables' flat the day after he was arrested found a table littered with materials and equipment used to experiment with explosives.

In the months leading up to his arrest, he had told others he knew how to make explosives including napalm and he was "just waiting for an excuse to flip".

Mr Sandiford told the jury that it is the prosecution's case that Stables had planned his attack for months in advance and had even researched "how to kill a police officer" with, Mr Sandiford claimed, the intention of turning on the police once they turned up to his attack.

In his opening remarks, Stables' defence barrister, Patrick Upward QC, said the 20-year-old had a long history of mental health problems and Asperger Syndrome.

The barrister added: "He is not a white supremacist, he is a white fantasist.

"His favourite uncle, his godfather, is an openly gay man who he has known throughout his life.

"His best friend from primary school is a young black man."

Mr Upward called on the jury "not to jump to conclusions".

"He did not intend, whatever he said, to cause injury or harm to anybody and he did not expect anybody to believe that."

Stables denies making threats to kill and preparing for acts of terrorism but has already pleaded guilty to possession of a number of explosives, weapons and material useful to someone preparing an act of terrorism.

The trial continues and is expected to last two weeks.