Teenage terrorist was not reported despite Bin Laden screensaver

A TEENAGE terrorist who wanted to attack the Isle of Wight music festival was not reported to the authorities by teaching staff, despite having a picture of Osama bin Laden as his phone background, a court has heard.

The 15-year-old was monitored closely by five tutors at a specialist education provider after converting to Islam in late 2021. A teacher noticed he had a photo of Bin Laden as his screensaver but dismissed it, saying he “was often trying to shock people”.

Staff also expressed concern about his membership of an online anti-gay group, but decided against referring him to Prevent, the Government’s deradicalisation programme, when he became angry.

Yesterday, a judge ordered that the boy, who is now 16, should be detained for seven years after he was convicted of one count of preparing acts of terrorism, three counts of disseminating terrorist publications and one count of possessing a knife in public. Kingston Crown Court heard how the teenager – who cannot be named because of his age – “obsessively” researched carrying out a terror attack at the festival, looking up weapons, vehicles and stab vests.

His trial heard how his ideology was influenced by the terrorist group Daesh, or Islamic State, in Iraq and the Levant.

He was caught when FBI agents spotted some of his posts on Discord, a messaging app, and alerted counter-terror police in the UK. Rossano Scamardella KC, defending, asked the court to distinguish between “obsessive research and genuine preparation for acts of terror”.

Mrs Justice Mcgowan sentenced the defendant to seven years detention with a one-year period of extended licence, as well as a 10-year notification period.

Det Chief Supt Olly Wright, head of Thames Valley Police’s Counter Terrorism Policing South East, said: “Where we can, we really do prefer to intervene early and divert young people away from extremism long before it gets to this point.”