Chewing his nails in court, the British boy, 14, ‘who told teen in Australia to behead a policeman’
A BOY of 14 faced court yesterday accused of plotting the Lee Rigby- style beheading of an Australian police officer from his bedroom in Britain.
The baby-faced teenager from a ‘respectable’ family is believed to be the youngest Islamic State terror suspect ever identified in the UK.
Wearing a grey police-issue sweater he sat chewing his nails as it was alleged he encouraged an older boy on the other side of the world to decapitate two people in a headline-grabbing attack during today’s Anzac Day parade in Melbourne. His father sat yards away as the charges were heard.
Detectives claim the schoolboy from Blackburn, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told Sevdet Besim, 18, to run over and behead a police officer during the military parade.
He is also said to have groomed his online friend to prepare for the main attack by breaking into someone’s home to decapitate him, picking a loner who ‘wouldn’t be noticed’.
The pair had allegedly communicated in March using encrypted software on their mobile phones and the discussions were only discovered by chance.
Scotland Yard last night urged people to be vigilant at major public events this weekend including Anzac Day com- memorations in the UK and the London Marathon. Senior officers said there is no specific threat, but all security plans have been urgently reviewed.
Details of the alleged plot have sent shockwaves through the intelligence community which is struggling to identify so-called lone wolf terrorists. Police in the UK are already on high alert after warnings that Islamic State sympathisers are preparing to target them.
The 14-year- old was arrested at his home l ast Saturday by counter terrorism officers. In a simultaneous move 10,000 miles away, 200 officers swooped on five young men in predawn raids in Melbourne.
The schoolboy was questioned for several days before being charged with two offences of inciting terrorism overseas, including murder by a beheading. Yesterday a judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court remanded him to secure youth accommodation.
He later appeared at the Old Bailey and was remanded in custody until May 14.
Prosecutor Rebecca Ledwidge told the magistrates’ court the options discussed by the boy in March were to carry out a knife attack on police in Melbourne or a ‘car op’ or gun attack on them. She added that he is also accused of inciting Besim to behead a loner.
David King, the boy’s lawyer, said his ‘respectable family’ were shocked by the allegations. He described the parents as ‘ the most concerned and responsible parents one could ask for’.
The boy lives in a smart, semi-detached four-bedroom home in Blackburn with his parents and older brother.
Neighbours described the family, originally from Pakistan, as ‘quiet and reserved’ and the boy as a loner who rarely emerges from the property. After his court appearance his mother said: ‘He’s doing OK. It’s all been a big shock. I’m very upset.’
Besim and a second man appeared in court in Melbourne earlier this week accused of conspiring to commit terrorism offences.
‘Responsible parents’