#DarkWeb - Liam Lyburd Jailed for LIFE.
A Newcastle teenager, who spent his days and nights on the DarkWeb fantasising and planning a massacre at his former college has been given a LIFE sentence.
The 19 year old appaered bored and nonchalant whilst sitting in court for his sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court this morning.
The Judge laid out the whole of the case and the seriousness of offences. A psychiatric report ordered when Lyburd was found guilty showed no signs of acute or mental illness - the judge said:
"Your personality disorders have in no way impared your ability to know what you were doing"
Lyburd shuffled, looked at the floor, the ceiling, around the court, anywhere but the judge as he continued.
"In my judgement these were particularly serious offences, hearing the evidence in this case was chilling to say the least"
Lyburd looked on intently as the judge delivered his sentence.
Custody for LIFE with a minumum of 8 years before he could be considered for release.
Here's the background into the Liam Lyburd case.
Liam Lyburd amassed a fearsome arsenal of weapons all bought on the part of the internet that not a lot of people know about.
Our reporter Micky Welch spent a year using the DarkWeb - you can find out more about his investigation here.
Just how does a teenager in Newcastle go about plotting and almost carrying out mass murder
Well, worryingly very easy.
Only a few know about the DarkWeb, but it IS accessible on ANY comupter - as long as you've installed the right software.
Once on there it really can be the eBay of crime.
A gun for ÂŁ500, cocaine, heroine, legal highs, any illegal drug you want really - and it's ALL delivered to your door.
This is what Liam Lyburd used to purchase weapons and ammunition.
Using the screen name "DonaldTrump" Lyburd was active on a site called Evolution - it's now closed down - but over the course of my investigation into it I found he was sourcing weapons as early as May 2014.
When he was arrested at his Newcastle home in November last year Evolution users took to forums discussing him, or Donald Trump, as they knew him.
One particular person was very concerned, we can exclusively reveal a user going by the name Vintorez admitted selling Lyburd part of his weapons cache.
Vendor/Seller Vintorez:
"I'm saled to this guy. JHP 9mm ammo, and one G19g3 Frame....he has complete Glock 19"
In further posts seen by myself Vintorez says "I'm never sale more JHP ammo"
JHP ammo = jacketed hollow point bullets, also known as JHP, is designed to cause severe damage. Liam Lyburd was found with almost 100 rounds.
During Lyburd's trial he admitted assembling a haul including a Glock handgun, ammunition, CS Gas and making home made explosives.
All undetected and unknown to authorities - he was ONLY discovered to be plotting mass murder through posts on Facebook page on the "normal" Internet.
At the end of the trial in July Micky filed this report.
Lyburd had admitted nine charges relating to making five pipe bombs, two home-made explosive devices, possessing a 9mm Luger Calibre Glock gun, the hollow-point ammunition and CS gas.
A jury convicted him of eight charges of possessing those items with an intent to endanger life at Newcastle College following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
Lyburd had denied all eight charges.
Police were alerted by a concerned member of the public about posts Lyburd made on his Facebook on the "normal" internet - he used the name Felix Burns on there - he boasted about launching a murderous attack.
They were led to the bedroom which he had rarely left for months and found the cache of weapons, the bag containing his sinister overalls, mask, boots and pipe bombs, and incriminating evidence on his laptop.
A computer specialist recovered a deleted file from his computer in which he wrote about getting vengeance on the college which had kicked him out two years before.
It said:
"You people ruined my whole life, don't expect me to show mercy today. No-one disrespects me and gets away with it.
I'll teach you people a little lesson on respect with my 9mm jacketed hollow points.
It's time for extreme civil disobedience.
Fantasy will become reality today for sure. Where the mind goes the body will follow and, yes, people will die, there's no question about that.''
As Lyburd was taken away by police, he laughed and told officers they had saved lives, preventing what would have otherwise been a massacre at the college.
They found webcam pictures he took of himself dressed for combat, armed with a Glock and brandishing a knife.
He was to tell the jury the pictures were part of a plot to draw attention to himself online and to get a reaction as he was lonely.
Dressing up in the outfit was just like other people having Halloween costumes, he claimed, and he had no intention of shooting anyone.
But Nick Dry, prosecuting, told the court that this was no fantasy, and there was every intent to endanger life with the chilling weaponry he had amassed.
Lyburd, who would smirk inappropriately during the trial, boasted that buying the Glock online was not a "big deal'' and "like buying a bar of chocolate''.
To Lyburd it was that easy - in this EXCLUSIVE screenshot of DonaldTrump's dealings on Evolution you can see him asking for weapons - but also - takeaways - Lyburd was adept at using the DarkWeb to commit fraud.
He, as you can see, mainly posted in the "Wanted" section on the Evolution site - he wanted CS Gas, we know he got it, he wanted a shotgun, we know he didn't get it, he wanted a Glock - we know, bit by bit he got it.
"As easy as buying a bar of chocolate" - Well as you can see, it really was for him.
The trial exposed to a wider audience some of the murky, hidden world of the DarkWeb, where illicit trading can go hidden from the authorities.
Micky's investigation showed just how it is affecting people right here in the North East.
Liam Lyburd, now 19 years old, was obsessed with shootings, killing sprees and guns, the jury was told. But he was not mentally ill.
Lyburd gestured with his fingers to his own head as if he was shooting himself as he was taken away from court.
The defendant had stared intently at the jury foreman as all eight unanimous verdicts were announced.
He sat in the dock listening intently with his hand on his chin.
Judge Paul Sloan QC will sentence him today, after a psychiatric report has been prepared.
When finding him guilty he told Lyburd:
"You will appreciate that only a very substantial sentence in custody is appropriate in the circumstances of this case."