15-year-old who wanted to attack Isle of Wight festival-goers guilty of terrorism charges
A 15-year-old who plotted to carry out an attack on the Isle of Wight music festival bragged he would escape terror charges with a telling off because of his age, a court heard.
The teenager planned to target the event in 2022 after he “adopted an Islamic extremist mindset”, jurors were told.
However, Kingston Crown Court was told the terrorist attack did not happen because the teenager did not have a vehicle.
Instead, the boy, who had a photo of Osama bin Laden as his phone’s background, hatched plans for a knife attack at an education institution.
He was discovered using the Discord messaging app to discuss his plans by the FBI, who tipped off British authorities and he was arrested, prosecutors said.
The white British boy, from the Isle of Wight, was found guilty of four terrorism charges and for possession of a knife.
‘Generally isolated figure’
The teenager, who had denied all charges, has autism, but was described as “bright, articulate and capable of exchanging ideas with others” and “perfectly intelligent” but was a “generally isolated figure” who gradually showed concerning behaviour.
The London court, heard the boy, who is now 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, converted to Islam in August or September 2021 and developed an interest in extreme Islam over time and supported Islamic State (IS).
A search of the teenager’s internet history showed that in the months before the festival, he had searched for “Jihadi John”, “Isis Paris attacks” and “Charlie Hebdo”, the court heard.
Days before the event, he researched the festival’s entry points and searched online for “fast lorry”, it was alleged.
After changing his plan to attack the Isle of Wight Festival in June 2022, the boy allegedly drew up “alternative targets for a knife attack”.
The targets were individuals who worked at an education institute on the Isle of Wight.
On social media, under an Arabic name that translates to “God over disbelief”, he shared IS propaganda videos and clips of beheadings and executions.
As well as communicating on Discord, the boy had two Instagram accounts and two Reddit accounts. It was heard he sent IS propaganda videos to people on Instagram.
In messages, said he “wants to travel to Syria” and “wants to kill every single American soldier”.
‘They will just tell me off’
He was warned in messages on Instagram about being “careful” because “the authorities will track your IP”.
He replied that he would be “fine”, adding: “Even if I do get caught, I’m 15 - they will just tell me off and put me on some prevention course, trust me.”
When he was arrested, he was found with a handwritten note titled “To My Family” explaining that he was “driven by hatred of the ‘kuffar’”, an Islamic term for someone who doesn’t believe in God.
To his grandmother, he penned a note asking her to become a Muslim.
Det Ch Supt Olly Wright, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East, said: “Today is not a day for celebration. There can never be satisfaction when a child so young is convicted of such serious offences.
“Our primary objective is always to protect our communities from those who wish to do them harm.
“In this case, unfortunately we found someone who had been radicalised by Daesh propaganda into believing it was acceptable to hurt innocent people.”
He added: “We hope he can get the help he needs to learn how wrong and dangerous these views are, and that he can become a functioning member of society in future.”
The boy is due to be sentenced on April 15 at Kingston Crown Court.
