Teenager ‘in Justin Bieber terror plot’
A WHITE teenage boy plotted an Islamic State-inspired attack in Cardiff on the day of a Justin Bieber concert, a court has heard.
The British 17- year- old, who described himself as a soldier of Islam after being radicalised online, asked his internet followers: ‘Cardiff, are you ready for our terror?’
Police raided his family home in the Rhondda Cynon Taf area of South Wales on June 30 – the day he was said to be plotting his attack.
A search of his bedroom unearthed a knife, a claw hammer and ‘martyrdom’ letter in his school bag.
The letter said: ‘I am a soldier of the Islamic State. I have attacked Cardiff today because your government keeps on bombing targets in Syria and Iraq.’
In the months before his arrest, the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, carried out hundreds of internet searches relating to truck and knife attacks, including how to steal a van and ‘what does it feel like to get shot’, Birmingham Crown Court heard. He had also carried out internet searches about security arrangements at the pop star’s concert due to take place at the Cardiff Principality Stadium on June 30.
The court heard he also created an Instagram site, and next to a pictures of the IS flag he wrote: ‘May infidels get hit by vehicles and in the name of Allah, the blood will flow like rivers. May Allah bring terrorism to Cardiff on 30th June 2017.’
Following the police raid he was charged with preparing for acts of terrorism, two counts of encouraging terrorism and two counts of possession of record of terrorist information. During the first day of his trial yesterday, his parents sat in the public gallery. Judge Mark Wall QC told the jury they would be having regular breaks because the teenager had difficulty concentrating.
Opening the case, prosecutor Michael Brook asked the jury to put stereotypes of terrorists to one side, as the British teenager did not look like a typical suspect. He said: ‘Most of us, perhaps unconsciously, have stereotypes, and the defendant I suspect does not look like how you expected a terrorist to look.’
The trial continues.