Teenager held hours before concert attack

A TEENAGE terrorist who was radicalised in his bedroom came within hours of an attack on Justin Bieber concert fans, a judge has said.

Lloyd Gunton, 17, who was arrested shortly before he intended to commit mass murder in a vehicle attack, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 11 years. A judge allowed his identity to be published for the first time as he was detained.

The teenager, who suffers from an autism spectrum disorder, was convicted of preparing for terrorist acts after a nine-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court last November.

He armed himself with a hammer and knife and wrote a so-called martyrdom letter in a plan to kill “non-believers” on the streets of Cardiff.

Gunton, who had conducted “virtual surveillance” of targets, including a Justin Bieber concert at the Principality Stadium, was detained at his home in the Llantrisant area of south Wales on June 30 last year. Judge Mark Wall QC said a “terrorist’s kit” had been found in the former A-level student’s rucksack and that it was clear from Instagram posts in English and Arabic that Gunton had planned to launch an attack on June 30.

The judge told him: “I am sure that you planned not just the killing of one person but rather mass murder.”

The teenager was also convicted of two counts of encouraging terrorism by posting extremist material on Instagram, and two charges of possessing Isil propaganda magazines.