A 14-year-old boy who invoked the Christchurch mosque terrorist in extreme-right graffiti and downloaded a video explaining how to make a bomb has been convicted of a terrorism offence.
The Nottinghamshire teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, was handed a three-year youth rehabilitation order with electronic monitoring at Nottingham Youth Court on August 28.
Counter Terrorism Police East Midlands (CTPEM) investigated the boy after arresting him in January amid concerns that he was carrying a knife. Officers found a knife in his bedroom, leading to a separate offensive weapons conviction for which he received a nine-month referral order.
But the subsequent counter-terrorism investigation uncovered a disturbing combination of weapons, extreme-right material and information about making explosives.
Police found a knuckle duster and a photograph of graffiti sprayed on a fence near the teenager’s home, which Counter Terrorism Policing officially described as “extreme right-wing graffiti”.
Reference to Christchurch mosque terrorist
The graffiti included a Nazi swastika, a racist slur and a reference to Brenton Tarrant, the Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, 2019.
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Tarrant livestreamed part of his massacre and published a manifesto before carrying out the attacks, which subsequently became influential within sections of the international extreme right.
The graffiti was sprayed on the garden fence of a woman of colour who lived alone.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said she had been left frightened by what had happened and felt personally targeted because of her race.
The teenager ultimately admitted racially aggravated criminal damage in relation to the graffiti.
Bomb-making video
The investigation also uncovered a video on the boy’s phone describing how a bomb could be made using household items. Police said the material was useful to a person committing an act of terrorism.
The video had reportedly been downloaded from TikTok and discussed ingredients that could potentially be used to produce an explosive.
However, the court heard that an explosives expert did not consider the video to contain detailed instructions for constructing a bomb, while investigators found no chemicals or bomb-making materials during a search of the teenager’s home.
The boy was initially charged under Section 57 of the Terrorism Act, relating to possession of an item for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism. That charge was later withdrawn.
At Westminster Crown Court on July 14, the boy instead pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon over the knuckle duster, racially aggravated criminal damage over the graffiti and an offence under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for possessing the bomb-making video.
Judge finds ‘no settled extremist ideology’
Despite the nature of the material, the court heard that the prosecution was not alleging that the teenager had developed a terrorist ideology.
Judge Paul Goldspring similarly concluded that the boy’s offending did not stem from a settled extremist ideological position.
The court heard that the teenager was susceptible to the influence of others and that his actions were linked partly to a desire to fit in.
His age and maturity were also taken into account, along with his subsequent engagement with the government’s Prevent counter-extremism programme.
Nevertheless, the judge condemned the racist graffiti and warned the boy about the seriousness of his behaviour.
The teenager was given a three-year youth rehabilitation order with electronic monitoring rather than a custodial sentence.
Police concerned by escalating behaviour
Detective Inspector Steve Shaw, the senior investigating officer, said the case demonstrated a worrying escalation in the teenager’s behaviour.
“It is worrying to think a person of such a young age could display these concerning thoughts and behaviours,” he said.
Shaw said investigators had seen a progression from weapons possession and extremist graffiti to the downloading of bomb-making material.
Police also issued a warning to parents to pay attention to what their children are consuming online, including the material they watch and read, websites they visit and people with whom they communicate.
