A Welsh schoolboy has been found guilty of plotting an “ISIS-inspired” attack on the day of a Justin Bieber concert in Cardiff.
The 17-year-old from Rhondda Cynon Taff cannot be named due to his age, was detained by police on 30 June 2017, the same day as the singer’s gig at the city’s Principality Stadium.
The boy hid a hammer and knife in his school bag and wrote a “martyrdom letter” after being “radicalised” online.
He was convicted of preparing for terrorist acts following a nine-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
In total, the teenager was convicted of five terror offences, which he had denied.
At the start of the boy’s trial it emerged that he had written a note apparently aimed for distribution after his death reading: “I am a soldier of the Islamic State and I have attacked Cardiff today because your government keep on bombing targets in Syria and Iraq.”
He added: “There will be more attacks in the future.”
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The note – found with the gutting knife and claw hammer – also featured bullet points including “run down the non-believers with a car” and “strike the infidels, who oppose Allah in the neck.”
Opening the case against the teen, prosecutor Matthew Brook told the jury: “In this case, the evidence will prove that he became radicalised over the internet.”
Mr Brook had told the court that detectives found a copy of a poster for the concert and internet searches such as “Justin Bieber Cardiff 2017” and “Justin Bieber Cardiff security.”
A court heard the perpetrator may have also been looking to target Cardiff Castle.
Mr Brook told jurors: “His interest in suicide evolved over time into an intention to commit a suicide attack in the name of Islam.
“The defendant told the police in his interview that he had been conversing with someone called Al Baghdadi over Instagram.
“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the leader of ISIS.”
The boy told police he took a knife and a hammer to his school on the day of his arrest but claimed he had no thoughts of using either weapon in an attack.
He will be sentenced at the same court on 10 January 2018.
