A teenage girl obsessed with Nazi ideology who described herself as the 'embodiment of hell' has been sentenced to over 15 years in prison for a brutal axe attack on a stranger outside a barber shop in Bristol.
The Attack
Alina Burns, then 18, attempted to strike Mohammed Mahmoodi, a 27-year-old Iranian Kurd, with an axe on August 2 2025 in Bedminster, Bristol. CCTV footage from inside BHK Barbers captured Burns swinging the weapon at Mr Mahmoodi's neck from behind while he chatted with a friend. Realising the danger, Mr Mahmoodi turned and ducked, narrowly avoiding the blade. Burns tried to strike again but was stopped when Mr Mahmoodi grabbed her hand and wrestled the axe away.
Police arrested Burns at the scene. Mr Mahmoodi sustained three scratches on his neck and cheek. Officers also found Burns carrying a scalpel and several darts.
Extremist Intentions
Bristol Crown Court heard that Burns had shared her violent 'plan' with a man she met on a dating site, who alerted police months before the attack. In emails, she expressed a wish to 'kill all' British Jews and Muslims. She wrote: 'I've realised my role in existence: I am the embodiment of hell, destined to annihilate everything holy I bear witness to.' She referred to carrying out a 'plan' and wanted 'all the credit and glory', stating it was her 'purpose/meaning in life'.
Burns was in contact with the far-right group Patriotic Alternative, founded by Neo-Nazi Mark Collett, which calls for a 'racially pure white society' and the 'repatriation' of non-whites and Jews. Detectives found she had searched for the group's 'plan for the United Kingdom'.
Preparation and Mindset
Seized diaries and notebooks revealed 'copious details' about weapons used by the Nazi SS and German military units in WWII. Days before the attack, Burns searched online: 'what age can you buy an axe UK', 'is an axe a good weapon for home defence', and 'how to properly use an axe for self-defence'. She also viewed YouTube videos including one about mass shooter Patrick Cruisius, who killed 23 people in El Paso, Texas.
An email she wrote to herself on August 1, titled 'The dawn of civil war', read: 'Land is reclaimed through terror' and that it was 'better if they flee out of fear rather than displace us in our own home.' The night before the attack, she watched a video of an SS march in Nazi Germany and searched 'How to fight with an axe: combat lesson 1 - defeat your enemy.'
Background and Sentencing
Burns, who lived with her parents and younger siblings, stopped attending school at 14. The court heard she was 'likely to have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)' and had thoughts of self-harm. On the day of the attack, she told her father she was going to a bookshop but instead went to Screw Fix to buy an axe.
During a mental health assessment, Burns asked if the attack was 'in the news yet?' and said she wanted 'to influence people to do the same thing but be successful.' She told a probation officer she planned to kill her victim 'or people of similar nationality selling fake or out-of-date goods', claiming they were 'degrading the streets'.
Burns pleaded guilty to attempted murder and three charges of carrying a bladed weapon in a public place. Mrs Justice Lambert sentenced her to 15 years and six months in prison with an extended licence of four years. The judge noted Burns continued to show 'entrenched hostility' to homosexuals and had destroyed books in the prison library. She added: 'You present a high risk of causing serious harm to the public, particularly racial minorities, from a continued justification of violence.'
Detective Superintendent Sarah Robbins from Counter-Terrorism Policing South West said: 'It is extremely fortunate that this vicious attack... didn't result in the loss of life. It is our view that Burns carried out this dreadful attack because of her distorted beliefs and extreme mindset.'
