Teenage boys ‘plotted massacre at school in revenge for bullying’
TWO 14-year-old boys planned a Columbine-style massacre at their school using shotguns and home-made bombs, a court heard yesterday.
The pair regarded the teenage killers responsible for the notorious US mass shooting 19 years ago as ‘heroes’, jurors were told.
They allegedly spent months plotting their own attack in the North Yorkshire market town of Northallerton intending to kill pupils who bullied them.
Downloading bomb-making instructions from the internet, they are accused of stashing items to make explosive devices in a disused building. One also allegedly planned to murder his girlfriend’s parents to steal seven shotguns they kept at home, Leeds Crown Court was told.
The jury heard it was ‘ no teenage fantasy’ and the school called in police after the boys boasted to friends about carrying out a shooting. One told officers there was a ‘list of people who were going to be killed’ which included two teachers. He said his friend had pinpointed on a
‘This was no teenage fantasy’
map of the school where bombs should be planted.
But three weeks after being quizzed, the older youngster continued with his ‘homicidal intent’, the court was told.
Prosecuting, Paul Greaney QC said the pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, ‘hero-worshipped’ the American teenagers behind the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in 1999. Eric Harris, 18, and 17-year- old Dylan Klebold murdered 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.
The Yorkshire boys’ plans had allegedly been up to six months in the making. They downloaded details of how to make explosive devices and researched getting guns on the ‘dark web’, the court heard. In June last year the older boy began a relationship with a girl of 14 and allegedly told her about the plot.
She explained how he began to ‘control her’ and with her agreement the boy carved his first name on her back with a knife. The situation changed dramatically in September when alarming comments to pupils were reported to school staff and police were called.
The younger boy told a teacher they planned to shoot pupils before killing themselves, and said it was their intention to ‘clear out the underclass’. The youngster – who sat in court wearing his school blazer – is also said to have texted a girl saying how they intended to kill pupils who bullied them. Asked if he was joking, he replied: ‘No. No one innocent will die.’
But despite the ‘confession’ to police his alleged accomplice denied any knowledge of the plot. Mr Greaney told the jury: ‘You may conclude that the police in North Yorkshire responded inadequately to the threat these two defendants presented.’
The older boy soon put words into action, the court heard. On October 22 he gained entry into his girlfriend’s bedroom at night dressed like the leader of the Columbine massacre, Eric Harris, intending to steal her father’s shotguns. But after being disturbed by the girl’s mother he was seen running away holding a large knife, the court heard.
Police were alerted and the boy’s hideout was found. Jurors heard it contained balaclavas, wires, batteries, screws for making a nail bomb and a mixture of ignitable substances.
Both boys, now 15, were questioned, and the older teenager’s diary was found, giving a chilling indication of his plan. The defendants deny conspiracy to murder and alternate charges of encouraging or assisting an offence.
The older boy also denies unlawful wounding and aggravated burglary.
The trial continues.