Teen expected ‘telling-off ’ for terror attack

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 “adopting an Islamic extremist mindset”, jurors were told. However, Kingston Crown Court heard the 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, allegedly 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 UK 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.

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”.

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 supported Islamic State.

As well as communicating on Discord, the boy sent IS propaganda videos to people on Instagram. In messages, he said he “wants to travel to Syria” and “wants to kill every single American soldier”.

He was warned on Instagram about being “careful” because “the authorities will track your IP”. He replied: “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 arrested, he was found with a note “To My Family” explaining that he was “driven by hatred of the ‘kuffar’”, an Islamic term for someone who doesn’t believe in God.

He is due to be sentenced on Apr 15.