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The teenage leader of a neo-Nazi group has been convicted of a crime that began at the age of 13, making him the youngest person in the UK known to have committed a terrorist crime.
The Cornish boy, who cannot be identified, appeared at the Old Bailey in London via video link on Monday and admitted to 12 offenses: two for spreading terrorist documents and 10 for possession of terrorist material.
At age 13, he downloaded a bomb-making manual and began collecting terrorist material. Later that year, he joined the neo-Nazi cult Fascist Forge and, at age 14, shared far-right ideology in online chat rooms.
The court heard that the young man, now 16, ran the British branch of the now-banned neo-Nazi terrorist organization Feuerkrieg Division (FKD). The group idolizes mass murderers like those who carried out far-right terrorist attacks in Norway, the United States and New Zealand in recent years. FKD encourages so-called “lone wolf” attacks.
Between October 2018 and July 2019, the boy collected a significant amount of far-right material and was active on online platforms, expressing racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views. He spoke of gassing Jews, hanging homosexuals and wanting to “shoot their parades,” the court heard.
Naomi Parsons, the accuser, said police searched the property where the boy lived with his grandmother after receiving reports that he was building a weapon. No weapons were found, but officers discovered a Nazi flag and a well-known Nazi motto in the garden shed, as well as several manuals on how to make weapons and instructions on how to kill people on your phone and computer.
“Age is the alarming factor, and their behavior betrays a maturity beyond their chronological age,” Parsons said.
In an interview with police, the defendant said he had made racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic comments “to make himself look cool.”
It was claimed that he was in contact with a 14-year-old Estonian boy who founded the FKD and was responsible for researching and recruiting members and propaganda. They used encrypted messages to discuss their hatred of particular groups.
The defendant then established FKD GB and recruited five British online platform members, including 17-year-old Paul Dunleavy of Rugby, who was jailed last year for planning acts of terrorism.
The cell wanted to enact “white jihad” and the genocide of non-white people, the court heard.
As a mitigation, Deni Matthews said the defendant had a “just terrible childhood”, and that all he did was to “seek approval” from others online.
Judge Mark Dennis said he would have to consider whether the teen had been immature or naive before sentencing. He said: “I need to evaluate a person of this age who sends these messages, [and] whether it’s true beliefs or the product of preparation first, but then self-aggrandizement and the other issues. “
The boy was posted bail subject to strict conditions that included residing in his home and attending services for juvenile offenders, along with a ban on using computers without permission from the police and a ban on using any mode of private browsing, software from encryption or virtual storage devices such as the cloud.
The child will be sentenced on February 8.
