Britain’s youngest convicted terrorist, 13, who led neo-Nazi cell from gran’s cottage avoids jail
BRITAIN’S youngest convicted terrorist who led a neo-Nazi cell from his gran's house has today avoided custody.
The boy, 13, gathered terrorist material online and spouted vile racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views in chatrooms.
He spoke about "gassing" Jewish people, hanging homosexuals and wanting to "shoot up their parades" in chilling exchanges.
The warped teen, now 16, also ran the UK branch of the extremist Feuerkrieg Division (FKD) during the summer of 2019.
The notorious neo-Nazi group idolises terrorists such as Anders Breivik, who slaughtered 77 people in Norway.
The defendant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was handed a 24-month youth rehabilitation order at the Old Bailey this morning.
While running the FKD, the boy enlisted autistic 17-year-old Paul Dunleavy, who was jailed for more than five years last year for plotting a terrorist attack.
TERROR TEEN
Cops stormed his elderly nan's rustic cottage in Cornwall and found a Nazi flag and the numbers '1488', which are codes for Heil Hitler, slathered on the garden shed.
The boy pleaded guilty to 12 offences - two of dissemination of terrorist documents and 10 of possession of terrorist material.
Judge Mark Dennis told the Old Bailey the boy had "entered an online world of wicked prejudice".
He said any reoffending would lead to a "spiral of ever-lengthening terms of incarceration" to protect the public.
Judge Dennis said: "You entered an online world of wicked prejudice and violent bigotry which has no place in a civilised society.
"You are now 16, coming on 17, years of age and any naivety or immaturity that may have played its part can no longer be put forward as an excuse.
You entered an online world of wicked prejudice and violent bigotry which has no place in a civilised society."
Judge Mark Dennis
"Any resurfacing of such prejudice or bigotry or engagement in such extremist activity will inevitably lead you in one direction, and that is in a spiral of ever-lengthening terms of incarceration in order to protect the public from such conduct.
"You now have the opportunity to put this behind you and to re-direct your future."
The judge added: "The wider picture revealed in this case - the actions, words and violent extremist mindset of many young teenagers - is deeply concerning.
"It may be for some it is just words, bombast or exaggeration just to shock and thereby impress their peers and it is something from which they will move as they get older.
"For others it would no doubt lead to entrenchment of their mindset, escalation of conduct and in turn to acts of violence."
The court heard that between October 2018 and July 2019, he had collected a significant amount of far-right material.
NEO-NAZI CELL
It included bomb-making instructions, ingredients for napalm, and how to make Molotov cocktails, build an AK47 assault rifle, and engage in knife combat.
The FKD, a banned network, favoured actions over words and encouraged individuals to commit "lone wolf" attacks.
The defendant liaised with FKD's 13-year-old "commander" in Estonia and was responsible for vetting and recruiting members and propaganda, it was claimed.
One of his five recruits was Dunleavy, who was convicted of terrorism offences relating to his activities as a member of FKD in 2019 and with whom he discussed the acquisition of firearms, the court was told.
The defendant also allegedly commissioned a "Nuke London" poster which bore an image of an atom bomb cloud explosion over the Houses of Parliament with the slogan "Sterilise the cesspit that you call London".
In a police interview, the defendant denied having had any racist, homophobic or anti-Semitic views, and said his comments and posts were just "to look cool".
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He claimed that he had been considering leaving FKD for about a month, which was rejected by the prosecution.
Prosecutor Naomi Parsons said the defendant's young age was "alarming" and his conduct "betrays a maturity beyond his chronological age".
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In mitigation, Deni Matthews said the youth was "damaged" and had "sought approval by expressing views he certainly does not ascribe to now and was unlikely to have ascribed to genuinely at the time".
In November last year, Dunleavy, 17, from Rugby, Warwickshire, was locked up for five-and-a-half years for preparing for acts of neo-Nazi terrorism.
