Britain’s youngest convicted terrorist led cell from his granny’s house

The boy was aged just 13 when he got his hands on instructions for explosives.

At the age of 14, the youth, from south-east Cornwall, amassed a stash of terror material and shared far-right extremist ideology in online chatrooms.

He pleaded guilty to 12 offences – two of dissemination of terrorist documents and 10 of possession of terrorist material.

The defendant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was handed a 24-month youth rehabilitation order by Judge Mark Dennis QC at the Old Bailey on Monday.

The judge told the boy he had “entered an online world of wicked prejudice” and any reoffending would lead to a “spiral of ever lengthening terms of incarceration” to protect the public.

The judge added: “The wider picture revealed in this case – the actions, words and mindset of teenagers – is deeply concerning.”The boy was aged just 13 when he got his hands on instructions for explosives.

The court heard earlier that between October 2018 and July 2019, he had collected a significant amount of far-right material.

It included bomb-making instructions, ingredients for napalm, and how to make Molotov cocktails, build an AK47 assault rifle, and engage in knife combat.

At the same time, he was active on online platforms – expressing racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views.

In the summer of 2019, he became the British cell leader of the FKD – Feuerkrieg Division – a neo-Nazi group that idolises the likes of mass murderer Anders Breivik.

The banned network favoured actions over words and encouraged individuals to commit “lone wolf” attacks.

The defendant liaised with FKD’s 13-year-old “commander” in Estonia and was responsible for vetting and recruiting members and propaganda, it was claimed.

One of his five recruits was teenager Paul Dunleavy, who was convicted of terrorism offences relating to his activities as a member of FKD in 2019 and with whom he discussed the acquisition of firearms, the court was told.

The defendant also allegedly commissioned a “Nuke London” poster which bore an image of an atom bomb cloud explosion over the Houses of Parliament with the slogan “Sterilise the cesspit that you call London”.

Police raided the defendant’s home on July 23 2019 as a result of information which suggested that he had been trying to construct a weapon.

No weapons were found, but his mobile phone and computer were seized.

During the search, officers found a Nazi flag and a copy of a neo-Nazi text depicting post-apocalyptic sadistic violence.

The numerals “1488” – a Nazi symbol – were also painted on to the garden shed.

In a police interview, the defendant, now aged 16, denied having had any racist, homophobic or anti-Semitic views, and said his comments and posts were just “to look cool”.

He claimed that he had been considering leaving FKD for about a month, which was rejected by the prosecution.

Prosecutor Naomi Parsons said the defendant’s young age was “alarming” and his conduct “betrays a maturity beyond his chronological age”.

In mitigation, Deni Matthews said the youth was “damaged” and had “sought approval by expressing views he certainly does not ascribe to now and was unlikely to have ascribed to genuinely at the time”.

In November last year, Dunleavy, 17, from Rugby, Warwickshire, was locked up for five-and-a-half years for preparing for acts of neo-Nazi terrorism.