A teenage boy from Northumberland who allegedly hates Jews and black people gathered weapons and researched local synagogues as he prepared to commit acts of terrorism, a jury has heard. The boy, now 16, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has denied charges of preparing terrorist acts, being a member of a proscribed organisation, possession of terror documents and sharing terror publications.
Michelle Heeley KC, prosecuting at Leeds Crown Court, said on Tuesday that the defendant “wanted to be a terrorist”. She told the court that police raided the boy’s home in February last year, finding weapons, explosives and switches, white supremacist flags, knives, crossbows and nails – “an arsenal worthy of any young rightwing terrorist”. Notepads expressing racist beliefs were also recovered.
The jury heard that the boy spent a lot of time online and was proud of holding Nazi beliefs. He became a member of the Base, a banned neo-Nazi paramilitary group which aims to create a “white supremacist utopia” through a race war. Heeley said the boy was 13 when he reached out to the group, expressing a desire to be “part of an active group, active in real life” and willing to travel when needed.
On Christmas Eve before his arrest, instead of watching festive films, he watched videos of mass stabbings, school shootings and terrorist acts. He began researching local synagogues, and on New Year’s Eve he researched how to make homemade ammunition and printable guns. He bought chemicals online to make explosives and discussed blowing up an electricity substation or a mobile phone mast near his home.
Heeley described the teenager’s “obsession” with extremism, noting he collected videos of terror attacks and ranked killers who had carried out atrocities against minorities. The prosecution argues that the boy was actively preparing for a terrorist act, and that had police not intervened, “who knows what he may have done”. The trial continues.
