Teenage Terrorist Sentenced
Britain's youngest terrorist has been handed a sentence of at least five years in custody for plotting an Anzac Day terror attack in Australia.
Over the course of nine days in March this year the then 14-year-old boy took on the role of “organiser and adviser'' to an alleged Australian jihadist in a plot to murder police officers by beheading in Melbourne the following month.
The youngster, from Blackburn, Lancashire, exchanged more than 3,000 encrypted mobile app messages with 18-year-old Sevdet Besim after he became swiftly radicalised by online Islamic State propaganda.
A “major terrorist plot in its late stages'' was thwarted when authorities in
Britain and Australia intervened and Besim was arrested in possession of a knife a week before the annual war remembrance event.
The youngster, now aged 15, was given a life sentence at Manchester Crown Court and told he would serve at least five years.
Mr Justice Saunders said the defendant's life term meant he would not be released until he is considered not to be dangerous.
He said: “Thanks to the intervention of the police in this country and in
Australia, that attack and the deaths which were intended to follow never happened.
“Had the authorities not intervened, (the defendant) would have continued to play his part hoping and intending that the outcome would be the deaths of a number of people.
“In March 2015 he would have been pleased if that had happened. He would have welcomed the notoriety that he would have achieved.''
He continued: “The revelation in this case that someone of only 14 could have become so radicalised that he was prepared to carry out this role intending and wishing that people should die is chilling.”
The judge ruled that reporting restrictions which ban the identification of the
Muslim defendant should remain.
The bespectacled teenager, wearing grey trousers, a grey shirt and patterned tie, hugged his parents and family members in turn after sentence was passed down before he was led from the courtroom to begin his sentence.
Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Mole from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit said: “After the information was discovered on the boy’s phone, it was clear he was encouraging another person to commit an act of terrorism and innocent lives were going to be in danger. A swift investigation was launched and we, alongside the relevant authorities in the UK and Australia, acted quickly.
“From the early communication we could read, it was obvious the Anzac Day memorial service was going to be a target. However, we did not know the specifics due to the messaging service he used contained an encryption code. If officers from the hi-tech unit of the NWCTU had not been able to develop a bespoke program to read the boy’s messages, it is likely someone would have been seriously injured or killed.
“The chains of events are clearly disturbing and residents will be shocked that such activity can take place behind closed doors. However, while these investigations took place, there was no suggestion the boy was looking to target his local community or those in the UK.
“People will be understandably be shocked by the age of the boy however this should not detract from the horror of what he was planning. It is also a clear message that you will face prosecution, no matter how old you are.
“I want to reiterate that it is everybody's responsibility to tackle extremism and radicalisation. It is vital communities and families contact us and bring to our attention anyone they perceive may be vulnerable or in danger of escalating towards terrorism.”