Boys obsessed with Columbine plotted nail bomb attack on school
TWO 14-year-old boys who planned a “re-enactment” of the Columbine massacre at their own school also plotted to make a nail bomb like the one detonated at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, it has emerged.
The teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had downloaded The Anarchist Cookbook, a 241-page manual that gives instructions on the manufacture of bombs and explosives.
Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, wrote in his original opening address, but chose not to tell the jury: “Such bombs are designed for one purpose, not to damage property but rather to kill and maim people. To that end, an explosive device is packed with metal shrapnel so that when the explosion occurs, the shrapnel is propelled out at speed, and into the bodies of people nearby.
“Such a device was used, as you will all recall, to kill 22 people and maim hundreds of others at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena.”
The boys were convicted yesterday of plotting to murder fellow students and teachers at their school in Northallerton, North Yorks. They sat motionless as the verdicts were read out at Leeds Crown Court following a three-week trial. The court had heard that after police had learned of the plot, one of the boys had confessed. However, the pair were not arrested until a month later.
In September 2017, the younger boy told a teacher about their plan to attack the school, saying: “Only the guilty will die”.
Police spoke to both boys separately and the younger one again confessed they were planning to kill students.
On Oct 23, the older boy was arrested for alleged offences relating to his girlfriend and her family. His computer and diary were seized and five days later both boys were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. They were charged on Nov 1.
After the verdict, North Yorkshire Police accepted that its initial response to the threat “did not meet those standards that are expected”.
In a statement, Phil Cain, Asst Chief Constable, said a senior officer had since reviewed the issues and addressed these with a number of staff.
The boys had prepared a “hit list” of people they wanted to kill, including fellow students and teachers who had supposedly bullied or wronged them. The older boy, described as the “leader” of the pair, was said to have “idolised” Eric Harris, who alongside fellow teenager Dylan Klebold carried out a massacre at Columbine High School, Colorado, killing themselves and 13 others in 1999.
The same boy was found to have kept a diary in which he espoused what prosecutors described as a “far Right-wing ideology” and discussed his motivations for wanting to carry out an attack.
The boys will be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court at a later date.