Schoolboys guilty of plotting Columbine-style mass killing

The 15-year-old boys, who cannot be named, had put together a "hit list" of fellow pupils and teachers they wanted to kill at their school in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

The targets identified on the list had supposedly bullied or wronged them.

The teenagers, who were 14 at the time of their offences, had researched weapons online and had both downloaded a bomb-making manual.

Both of the boys sat motionless alongside their tearful mothers as the verdicts were read out at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday.

The teenagers were said to have "hero-worshipped" the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.

US students Eric Harris and fellow teenager Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher at the Colorado school.

The older of the two North Yorkshire students was said to have "idolised" Harris.

He was also found to have kept a diary in which he espoused what prosecutors described as a "far-right wing ideology".

The teenager had also discussed his motivations for wanting to carry out an attack.

His former girlfriend claimed that he spoke of a plan to murder her parents before running away together, so that he could become a "natural born killer".

The schoolgirl, who started dating the boy in June 2017, claimed he described her as "his Dylan Klebold" and encouraged her to give him access to her father's shotguns.

The teenager, described as "devious" and "primitive" by the girl's mother, was cleared of one count of aggravated burglary.

He was convicted of unlawful wounding after carving his name into his girlfriend's lower back.

Officers searched the boy's "hideout", where they discovered a rucksack filled with screws, boards and a flammable liquid.

Prosecutors suggested they were instruments with which to build an explosive device.

Police questioned the boys in September 2017 when the younger teenager told a schoolgirl via Snapchat that he was planning a shooting.

When she asked if he was joking, he responded: "No. No one innocent will die. We promise."

The next day he made what the prosecution described as "clear and unvarnished" confessions, firstly to a teacher, and then to police officers.

The teacher later told the court the boy said his targets were "infecting the gene pool" and he and his friend were performing a "service to society".

Detective Superintendent Martin Snowden, the head of the North East counter terrorism unit, said he was "very grateful" to North Yorkshire Police for their assistance during the investigation.

He added: "There is no understating the severity of these offences and the potential implications had their plans not come to the attention of the authorities."

"These boys demonstrated a very real interest in violence and had both expressed a desire to act out their fascinations.

"Disturbingly, they had gone beyond the fantasy and had begun to take very real steps towards making it a reality."

Sentencing will be at a later date