Britain's youngest terrorist planned to behead his teachers, court hears
The 15-year-old from Blackburn was directly recruited by Isil for Anzac Day terror plot and was nicknamed "the terrorist" by his classmates
Britain's youngest terrorist wanted to behead his teachers Photo: Getty Images
By Tom Whitehead, Security Editor
1:43PM BST 01 Oct 2015
Britain’s youngest terrorist planned to behead his teachers and had drawn up a hit list on who to kill first, a court has heard.
The youngster, who masterminded an Islamist plot to attack an Anzac Day parade in Australia, also talked about planting a bomb on a plane.
The schoolboy fanatic was directly recruited by Isil online when he was just 14 and was “wired in to” the terrorist network, Manchester Crown Court heard.
It also emerged that the boy, now aged 15, was so extreme that his classmates had nicknamed him “the terrorist”
The fanatic became Britain’s youngest terrorist when he admitted directing others to attack police and behead victims at an Anzac Day parade in Melbourne earlier this year.
The attack, which the boy planned from his bedroom in Blackburn, Lancashire, was foiled by police after they arrested the youngster for making threats to kill at his school.
A two-day sentencing hearing was told on Thursday that the youngster, who had a troubled family life, had frequently threatened to kill his teachers, including one who he told he would “cut the throat”.
He told another “you are on my beheading list” and said he had moved “above” another teacher.
He threatened a teaching assistant with a pair of scissors and told another “your time has come”.
The boy plotted with a teenager in Melbourne in March this year to carry out a terror attack on Anzac Day on the centenary of the First World War battle in Gallipoli which it commemorates.
But it has emerged that the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been radicalised and recruiter online by Australian Isil fanatic Abu Khaled al-Cambodi.
Sevdet BesimSevdet Besim after his arrest in Australia Photo: 9 News
Cambodi described the boy as his “little brother” and put him in touch with Sevdet Besim, the Australian teenager who was allegedly going to carry out the attack.
Paul Greaney QC, told the court: “A clear picture emerges of a young person who was, by March 2015, thoroughly and dangerously radicalised and committed to Isil and the idea of violent jihad and who was, moreover, wired into the Isil network.”
The court was told that if the plot had not been thwarted it would have "in all probability" resulted in a number of deaths.
Mr Greaney said: “It is clear that the purpose of this proposed attack was to promote the ideology and agenda of Isil. A striking feature of the case is that, at the time of the offence, the defendant was aged just 14.
"It is clear that he had been radicalised by Isil propaganda accessed by him over the Internet and the evidence establishes that the contact with his Australian collaborator was instigated by a well-known Isil recruiter and propagandist named Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, himself an Australian, who has promoted the idea of terrorist attacks in his homeland.”
From the age of 12 he was "undoubtedly a troubled young person" and was excluded from school on a regular basis for regular abusive and disobedient behaviour, Mr Greaney said.
The youngster was said to have "strong religious convictions" and was disruptive when he attended a large secular school where most of the pupils were white.
Abu Khaled al-Cambodi promoted the idea of a terrorist attacks in Australia, his homeland
On one occasion he praised Osama bin Laden and stated his own desire to become a jihadist and a martyr, the court heard.
The defendant was later referred to the Government's counter-extremism programme Channel after his mother explained to the school that he spent all night on his computer studying foreign affairs and "seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders".
It led to him moving schools but his poor behaviour continued and more exclusions followed, the court was told.
Mr Greaney said: "He regularly mentioned death and unpleasant methods of torture. He also spoke of his desire to be a suicide bomber, stating that if he had to choose where to detonate his bomb it would be on a plane in order that he could maximise the fatalities."
The prosecutor said it was "absolutely clear" that al-Cambodi was the link between the defendant and then 18-year-old Besim.
He added: "That such a significant Isil figure put the two in touch is of itself indicative of the serious nature of the plot upon which (the defendant) and Besim were to embark."
The defendant asked Besim whether he wanted to become a martyr and Besim confirmed he did, the court heard.
Besim was referred to by the defendant as "a lone wolf" and was told he was to carry out the attack on his own and could ask for advice.
Mr Greaney said: "(The defendant) added that Besim would need to make a video – by implication a martyrdom video – to send to al-Cambodi, the man to whom we have made much reference, for onward transmission to Al Hayat, the Isil media outlet.
"He told Besim that he would research targets in Melbourne and task him once a suitable target had been identified. Besim volunteered that he would "love to take out some cops".
"And so, within hours of the men first making contact, not only had the plotters determined that the attack was to take place in Australia, but also the idea of an attack upon police officers was taking hold."
In the early hours of March 18, Besim suggested an attack on Anzac Day, the court heard.
The defendant messaged, "Sounds good", and Besim replied: "Make sure the dogs remember this as well as there fallen 'heroes'."
Mr Greaney said: "Shortly after this exchange about Anzac Day, (the defendant) suggested that Besim should "break into someone's house and get your first taste of beheading".
"Besim responded to indicate that this seemed rather risky but (the defendant) reassured him that this would only be so if he carried out the killing in the hours before the operation and suggested that the victim should be a "proper lonely person".
"In the result, this aspect of the planning seems to have drifted away, but it is a frightening indication of the lengths to which (the defendant) was prepared to go, suggesting the beheading of a vulnerable person as practice for the operation."
