Teen ‘planning far-right attack on Dover coast’ admits terrorism

LONDON: A 15-year-old boy who talked of planning an attack on the Dover coast in an extremist right-wing group he set up online has admitted terrorism offences.

The teenager, from South Derbyshire, ran the public channel – said to be openly racist by prosecutors – on the encrypted Telegram app. The group, which had 38 subscribers, was set up on August 5 last year using an icon of a Union Jack emblazoned with a skull and two rifles.

In one post, the youngster wrote in all capital letters: “I am planning a attack against the Dover coast where every Muslim and refugee has been given safe(t)y if your interested tell me now.” He is said to have vetted others into private chat groups, where they talked about “doing something” against ethnic minorities, and discussed weapons.

The 15-year-old was due to stand trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, but pleaded guilty to possessing a terrorist publication, called “the Anarchy Cookbook Version 2000”, disseminating a terrorist publication, and encouraging terrorism, in August and September last year. Prosecutors say the youngster encouraged the group to read the document, which included instructions on bomb-making and other methods useful for preparing acts of terrorism.

The court heard he has a previous conviction after threatening to blow up a mosque on January 20 last year in what Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said had been described to him as a “bomb hoax, a prank and a joke”.

He was handed a referral order on September 25 2020 after pleading guilty to an offence under the Malicious Communications Act. A 16-year-old boy, from Kent, who was a member of the Telegram chat group, admitted disseminating a terrorist publication by sending an electronic link that allowed others to access a terrorist publication, called the “White Resistance Manual”, in August last year.

The document is said to be a guide to committing terrorism in the name of right-wing extremism. Mr Goldspring adjourned sentencing for both boys, who cannot be identified because of their age, to August 3 for reports to be prepared, but said: “The custody threshold has been crossed.” The 15-year-old, who appeared by video-link from a youth remand centre, was remanded in custody, while the older boy, who appeared in court with his mother, was granted conditional bail.

Both boys were first arrested on September 22 last year and an analysis of their computers and mobile phones revealed a “deep-rooted, extreme right-wing, racist ideology, of an abhorrent and concerning nature,” according to prosecutors.

Police found a large quantity of extreme right-wing propaganda, including images, videos, documents and messages. The 15-year-old downloaded a video of the Christchurch mosque terror attacks, in which gunman Brenton Tarrant shot and killed 51 people, and saved an image of a British police officer with a gun to his head.

The 16-year-old recorded a video of footage showing a concentration camp soldiers shooting a prisoner and saved a montage of Hitler and Nazis set to music. After the 15-year-old was first arrested at the home where he lived with his mother, he told officers: “Basically I’m far-right and you guys don’t like it.”

Police seized a jumper with right-wing emblems, which was seen in one of the online chats before he was re-arrested on December 10 last year. When asked about the Anarchist Cookbook, he said: “Actually I do remember that, did you manage to find the others?”

The court heard the 15-year-old admitted the offences on the basis his actions were “reckless” rather than “intended”. The 16-year-old admitted being part of the group when he was arrested at his home. He said: “They were talking about stuff.

“I didn’t really do a whole lot, just spoke to them about a few things, then after that I decided it was a bit too much and left it. It’s one of the reasons I left the group, I didn’t want to go down, whatever they were going towards, I still love England. They took it a bit too far, I was just trying to fit in.” When he was re-arrested, he said: “I didn’t expect you to come so soon.”