Teenage leader of neo-Nazi group is UK’s youngest terror offender

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February 1, 2021
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Boy from Cornwall whose offending began at 13 and who founded UK branch of FKD will be sentenced next week

The teenage leader of a neo-Nazi group has been convicted over offending that began at the age of 13, making him the youngest person in the UK known to have committed a terrorist offence.

The boy, from Cornwall, who cannot be identified, appeared before the Old Bailey in London via video link on Monday and admitted 12 offences – two of dissemination of terrorist documents and 10 of possession of terrorist material.

At 13 he downloaded a bombmaking manual and began gathering terrorist material. Later in the same year he joined the neo-Nazi cult Fascist Forge, and at 14 he went on to share far-right extremist ideology in online chatrooms.

The court heard that the youth, now 16, led the British branch of the now banned neo-Nazi terrorist organisation Feuerkrieg Division (FKD). The group idolises mass murderers such as those who carried out far-right terrorist attacks in Norway, the US 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 antisemitic views. He talked about gassing Jewish people, hanging gay people and wanting to “shoot up their parades”, the court heard.

Naomi Parsons, prosecuting, said police searched the property where the boy lived with his grandmother following reports that he was constructing a weapon. No weapon was found but officers discovered a Nazi flag and well-known Nazi slogan on the garden shed, as well as several manuals about making weapons and instructions on how to kill people on his phone and computer.

“The age is the alarming factor and his conduct betrays a maturity beyond his chronological age,” Parsons said.

In a police interview, the defendant said he had made racist, homophobic and antisemitic comments “to look cool”.

It was claimed that he was in touch with a 14-year-old Estonian boy who founded the FKD and was responsible for vetting and recruiting members and propaganda. They used encrypted messages to discuss their hatred of particular groups.

The defendant then set up FKD GB and recruited five British members from online platforms, including Paul Dunleavy, 17, from Rugby, who was jailed last year for preparing acts of terrorism.

The cell wanted to enact “white jihad” and the genocide of people who were not white, the court heard.

In mitigation, Deni Matthews said the defendant had a “simply dreadful childhood”, and everything he did was in order to “seek approval” from others online.

The judge Mark Dennis said he would need to consider whether the teenager had been immature or naive before passing sentence. He said: “I need to assess a person of this age who sends these messages, [and] whether this is true beliefs or the product of firstly grooming but then self-aggrandisement and the other matters.”

The boy was granted bail subject to strict conditions including residing at his home and attending youth offending services, along with a ban on using computers without police permission and bans on using any private browsing mode, encryption software or virtual storage devices such as the cloud.

The boy will be sentenced on 8 February.
The Guardian

Drunk plane passenger spewed vile racist rant and gave Nazi salute

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February 1, 2021
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A racist who made a Nazi salute on a Liverpool-bound flight in front of a Holocaust victim’s family walked free from court.

Louis Mann launched into a horrific tirade of racist and religious abuse on the plane, which had arrived at John Lennon Airport from Poland.

The vile rant was filmed by the family member of Holocaust victims, who said he was left “shaken”, “shocked” and “disgusted”.

The 28-year-old had been a medical student studying in Poland, and says he was groomed by far right extremists, but continued to spout his racist views – even in a report prepared ahead of his appearance at Liverpool Crown Court.

Zillah Williams, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was a passenger on a Wizz Air flight from Poland, Warsaw, to Liverpool on October 19, 2019.

“The flight arrived at Liverpool John Lennon Airport at 5.37pm.”

Ms Williams said: “The flight was full and passengers reported during the flight Mr Mann had had to be repeatedly asked to sit down, to fasten his seatbelt and to refrain from making rude and offensive gestures.”

Ms Williams clarified that the offence for which Mann was charged took place when the flight had landed in Liverpool.

She explained Mann “got out of his seat before permitted to do so” when the seatbelt sign was still on and despite being repeatedly told to sit down by the crew began a “tirade of racial and religious abuse by words and gestures”.

Ms Williams said: “He was standing in the aisle of the flight making a Nazi salute and was shouting ‘Anglo-Saxon race, we are superior’.”

Mann had said: “‘Know your place, don’t answer back, you’re a Slavic race traitor n***** lover.'”

He also used a derogatory word used by the Nazis ‘inferior people’.

Mann was shouting abuse to “Jewish n***** lovers”, Ms Williams explained.

She said: “Mr Tych, a Polish national, was recording him. He was particularly upset, he lost family members during the Holocaust. He was extremely shaken by it.

“He was talking about people being inferior and was being derogatory to Jewish and Black people.

Wlodzimier Tych wrote in a victim impact statement: “Prior to this I have always felt very welcome in this country.

“I have lived in this country for 31 years, I have never experienced this sort of behaviour.

“I am of Jewish origin, this made me feel very shaken and upset, I also felt angry, disgusted and upset as he continued his behaviour regardless of other people’s feelings.”

Ms Williams explained that police boarded the plane at Liverpool and “heard the abuse that was still going on during his arrest”.

The rant continued even when Mann had been transported to the custody suite, telling one constable “You’re alright, you’re Aryan.”

Ms Williams said Mann was “clearly drunk”, which a medical examination confirmed, and was deemed unfit for an interview “for reasons to do with his mental health”.

He has no previous convictions, the court heard.

David Traynor, defending, said the behaviour was “disgraceful” adding “no one should have to observe it”.

He explained Mann was a medical student in Poland and in the weeks leading up to the incident his family “noticed a deterioration” in his mental health.

Mr Traynor explained his “isolation in Poland” and stress from his course “contributed to a deterioration in his mental health”.

He said: “He had a fixed view that he had meningitis, which seems to have started by rumours in medical school”.

Mr Traynor explained that leading up to the racist hate-speech Mann’s “intake of alcohol increased drastically”.

Citing a report Mr Traynor said there were “links” between his illness and his behaviour and at the time was likely suffering from a “psychotic illness”.

Mr Traynor said Mann had told him when he was in Poland he had been groomed by far right extremist groups which is “where those views come from” and said “that’s where he got the terminology from”.

He told the court that a medical report stated immediate custody would “cause Mann’s mental health to deteriorate” and it would be likely he would self harm if sent to jail.

Mr Traynor explained he lives at his parent’s address and would be able to work with the relevant services in a stable environment if spared jail.

He said: “Mr Mann has been unwell and remains unwell. The public would be best served by him being managed appropriately to ensure incidents like this don’t happen in the future.”

Mr Traynor also referred to a pre sentence report which said Mann has “ongoing mental health” problems with a diagnosis of Autism.

Mann, of Euston Grove, Morecambe, admitted being drunk on the plane but after denying racially aggravated harassment that charge was ordered to lie on file.

The court heard that the charge of Mann being drunk on a plane encapsulated the racial harassment and the judge increased the sentence to reflect the racial element.

Judge Anil Murray, sentencing, labelled it “disgraceful conduct on your part”.

The judge said: “You got on a plane at Warsaw, bound for Liverpool Airport, you were drunk. You had had some warnings when the plane was in the air.

“You got out of your seat and shouted vile racist abuse including Nazi salutes which seriously affected other passengers including someone who had lost family in the Holocaust.

“I can only imagine the effect of your behaviour on him.

“It seems you have entrenched racist views.”

Liverpool Echo

Norfolk-based Brexit Party founder punished for Covid protest

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January 24, 2021
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The Norfolk-based founder of the Brexit Party has appeared in court having been charged with taking part in a coronavirus protest.

Catherine Blaiklock, who ran for UKIP in Great Yarmouth in the 2017 general election, was part of a gathering of more than six people at Leicester Cathedral during the coronavirus emergency period.

Blaiklock, of Lingwood Road, Lingwood, admitted participating in an outdoor gathering of more than six people in Leicester during the coronavirus emergency period.

The case was before Leicester Magistrates Court on Thursday, January 21.

Blaiklock entered a guilty plea through her solicitor Simon Nicholls.

Mr Nicholls told the court his client was not a Covid denier and accepted that coronavirus was real.

He said her eldest daughter was a medical student who has agreed to start giving vaccinations.

But Mr Nicholls said Blaiklock was a libertarian who believed the coronavirus regulations had not been thought through and were too draconian.

He said she believed the government had got it all wrong.

Blaiklock was fined £390, ordered to pay £85 costs and a £39 surcharge.

After joining UKIP in 2014, Blaiklock went onto found the Brexit Party alongside Nigel Farage.

She stood down from the party in March 2019 over anti-Islam tweets.

Blaiklock’s case was listed alongside three others, including Piers Corbyn, the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who were charged with the same offence on July 7 last year.

Corbyn, 73, from London, and the two others pleaded not guilty to the offence and will stand trial at Leicester in June.

Corbyn, a high-profile coronavirus sceptic, is due to stand trial at Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court in March after having been part of an anti-coronavirus protest in Norwich in September last year.

He has denied a charge of holding or being involved in holding a prohibited gathering of more than 30 people on land in a public outdoor place during the emergency period.

Demonstrators wielding placards gathered at the Haymarket on Gentleman’s Walk in the city centre at shortly after midday on September 24.

A crowd of about 50 people took part in the event that was part of a series of 27 protests being held throughout September in towns and cities across the UK – dubbed the ‘Covid-19 Truth Tour’.

Eastern Daily Press

Sunderland man given cannabis plants by friend landed in court after police called at his home

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January 24, 2021
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A man given five cannabis plants as reward for helping a pal clear away a drugs farm was caught when police called at his home on an unrelated inquiry.

Kieron Wright, 27, at first refused to come to the door of his home in Grafton Street, Millfield, Sunderland – and his mum even denied he was at home.

When he then climbed out onto a roof to shout to ask them what they wanted on Tuesday, September 8, officers could already smell the drug from the street.

Wright then came clean about his crime – but his openness led to him being charged with a more serious offence, magistrates in South Tyneside were told.

They heard he told police how he had attained the batch, meaning he was charged with cannabis production rather than possession.

Prosecutor Marc Atkins said: “Officers attended an address in Grafton Street, in order to arrest the defendant for another offence.

“The defendant’s mother said he wasn’t at the property, but the defendant then climbed out of the loft and came onto the roof and asked what they wanted.

“He refused to come down to the door. To his credit, he told them that he had cannabis in the loft that they could also smell.

“After about ten minutes he let them in. There is cannabis bush on the loft floor and some more hanging on a radiator.

“He told officers that he had helped a friend dismantle a cannabis farm and that he was given five plants.

“There was 215g of cannabis, which was for his own use. There was no equipment for commercial production.”

Mark McAlindon, defending, said Wright had previously used crack cocaine and switching to cannabis was a way to move to a lesser drug.

He added: “The yield from the drugs was about 40g. It’s now an offence of some age.

“This could have been charged as possession, but it was production due to what he said in his interview.”Wright was fined £120 after pleading guilty to production of a controlled Class B drug, and must pay £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

Sunderland Echo

Terror plot: Durham teenage neo-Nazi named as Jack Reed

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January 12, 2021
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Jack Reed used an alias on a notorious neo-Nazi internet forum

The youngest person to be convicted of planning a terrorist attack in the UK can be named after a bid to keep his identity secret was rejected.
01
Jack Reed, from New Brancepeth, County Durham, was convicted in November 2019 of six neo-Nazi terror offences.

Last month, two days before his 18th birthday, he applied to retain his anonymity.

But a judge at Manchester Crown Court has now ruled he had no power to make such an order.

‘Natural sadist’

Reed is currently serving a sentence of six years and eight months for the terrorism offences.

At Leeds Youth Court in December he was given another custodial term for unrelated child sexual offences, namely five sexual assaults against a girl.

Reed’s terrorism trial heard he was interested in “occult neo-Nazism” and had described himself as a “natural sadist”.

His preparations for an attack in Durham included researching explosives, listing potential targets and trying to obtain a bomb-making chemical.

Last year BBC Panorama identified the website’s founder and another young member who had agreed to provide Reed with the chemical ammonium nitrate.

Reed had persistently searched online in relation to rape and paedophilia and had written about wanting to commit sexual violence.

Jack Reed drew up a “hit list” of areas he wanted to attack in Durham

Reed’s anonymity was set to expire on his 18th birthday but the day before, 23 December, Judge Nicholas Dean QC granted an interim anonymity order after his legal team applied to extend the reporting restrictions.

Following submissions from the media, the judge ruled that the Crown Court has “no power.. to make the order sought”.

He said that such a power does exist in the High Court, but Reed’s barrister confirmed there was no intention to make an application there.

The power has only previously been used in five criminal cases.

In 2016 two brothers who had tortured other children in South Yorkshire were granted lifelong anonymity.

In 2019, a teenage boy from Blackburn who had admitted inciting a terrorist attack in Australia was allowed to remain anonymous.

Lifelong anonymity under new identities has also been granted after release to Mary Bell, the Newcastle child killer; Maxine Carr, who obstructed police investigating the 2002 Soham murders by her partner Ian Huntley; and Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who murdered Liverpool toddler James Bulger.

BBC News

Banned Scotswood driver got friend to pick him up in order to flee scene of serious crash

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January 8, 2021
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Stuart Spence was severely injured after being involved in a collision and was being helped by members of the public before he jumped on the back of his friend’s bike and sped-off

A banned driver got his friend to pick him up from the scene of a serious accident in order to evade arrest.

Stuart Spence was severely injured after being involved in a collision with another vehicle and was being tended to by members of the public while the emergency services arrived.

But, knowing he was disqualified and rather than receive treatment, the 33-year-old phoned his friend and asked him to come and pick him up on his motorbike, a court heard.

Spence then fled the scene of the accident, on Dudley Lane, in Dudley, North Tyneside, but was found nearby after his concerned father shouted at him “I’d rather have a son in prison than a son dead” and rang for an ambulance.

The motor menace, who had two driving while disqualified offences on his record and a dangerous driving offence, was arrested after spending a number of days in hospital and appeared before magistrates in North Tyneside on Thursday.

He pleaded guilty to one count each of driving while disqualified, leaving the scene of an accident and driving with no insurance.

Rebecca Slade, prosecuting, said Spence was behind the wheel of his Honda motorbike on July 2 last year when he was involved in a collision with another car.

“It was a substantial collision that wrote-off both vehicles,” Miss Slade continued. “The defendant was injured and members of the public treated him and rendered him first aid.

“The defendant then contacted an associate, who arrived at the scene on a motorbike and the defendant left the scene as a passenger without leaving details or waiting until the police arrived.”

The court heard that, since the crash, Spence, who has 71 offences on his record, had been given two separate suspended sentences, one for dangerous driving and one for burglary.

Kevin Smallcombe, mitigating, said Spence, of Muswell Hill, in Scotswood, Newcastle, was wanting to go to prison.

He added: “The charges don’t relate to the manner of his driving. He nearly lost his life. He was propelled head-first from his bike through the other vehicle’s window.

“He suffered very serious injuries. The words of his father are quite telling when he arrived at his house. He shouted, ‘Get an ambulance, get an ambulance, I would rather have a son in prison than a son dead’.”

Magistrates gave Spence a third suspended sentence, giving him 18 weeks, suspended for two years.

He was also banned from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £95 victim surcharge.

The Chronicle

A ‘far-right extremist’ who threatened to shoot one Sunderland MP and ‘hurt’ another has been jailed

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January 4, 2021
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A ‘far-right extremist’ who threatened to shoot and kill an MP during a terrifying campaign of ‘vigilante democracy’ because she supported a second Brexit referendum has been jailed.

Colin Brown, who had “expressed support” for the murder of Jo Cox, said he wanted to “make an example” of Bridget Phillipson, MP for Houghton and Sunderland South.

The 50-year-old, who has a previous conviction for hurling racial abuse at council staff, also threatened he was going to “hurt” Julie Elliott, MP for Sunderland Central and said politicians needed “shooting”.

During the shocking threats he made in 2019, Brown warned he would drive a car into a mosque in a bid to target Muslims.

At Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Tim Gittins sentenced Brown to 18 months behind bars and said the jail term was a “deterrent to others who seek to poison democratic and political debate by threatening those who disagree with you”.

Judge Gittins told Brown some of his statements were “chilling” and told him: “It is clear you hold some views that are extreme and appalling in relation to race and religion.

“You took exception to the local MP’s stance on withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.

“You are perfectly entitled to hold a different view to anyone, as is she.

“What you are not entitled to do is threaten serious violence and death to that person holding a different view.”

Sunderland Echo

County Durham grandad branded ‘paedophile’ jailed for life after stabbing tormentor outside Aldi

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December 24, 2020
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Mark Pearson has been locked up for the attempted murder of a man, who repeatedly called him a “nonce”, outside Aldi in Spennymoor

Mark Pearson has been given a life sentence for attempted murder in Spennymoor (Image: Durham Constabulary)

A grandad who was falsely accused of being a paedophile has been given a life sentence for stabbing his tormentor.

Mark Pearson repeatedly stabbed Michael Inwood with a lock knife in a “frenzied” attack outside the Aldi store, in Spennymoor, in front of horrified shoppers.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Mr Inwood suffered “life-changing” injuries after being stabbed eight times, including the neck, heart and lung, on the afternoon of September 9 last year.

The 47-year-old denied trying to kill Mr Inwood, but a jury convicted him of attempted murder and being in possession of an offensive weapon at trial.

Judge Paul Sloan QC said that the stabbing was “totally disproportionate” to the provocation and jailed Pearson for life with a minimum term of 12 years.

The court heard how Pearson snapped after two years of torture from Mr Inwood, who had repeatedly branded him a “nonce” and a “paedophile”.

However, Pearson is registered as a Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) 2 – meaning he is a classed as a violent offender, not a sex offender.

The pair had initially clashed earlier that day on the top deck of a bus heading towards Spennymoor when Mr Inwood called the defendant a “wrong ‘un”.

It spurred Pearson to follow Mr Inwood, who was leaving the bus, until he was stood next to the driver where he told him that he was a “dead man walking” and that he was going to “slit his throat”.

Pearson then drew his finger across his neck in a cutting action.

He got off the bus at the next stop, walking past the Aldi shop on Cambridge Street towards his home. However, he suddenly turned around and headed back towards the store – and in the direction of Mr Inwood.

The pair confronted each other and began shouting “come on then” before Pearson got out a lock knife from his pocket and hid it behind his back.

Newcastle Crown Court was told when Pearson got in range he swung his right arm and stabbed Mr Inwood in the neck. He then proceeded to stab the victim “up to 10 times”, including the heart and lung, until he fell to the floor.

The offence took place in broad daylight outside the busy supermarket with one horrified witness saying it was like “something out a horror movie”.

Pearson fled the scene and called 999 after stashing the lock knife in a bag of flour in his kitchen cupboard.

He told police he didn’t deliberately stab Mr Inwood and claimed it was self defence.

The court heard how Mr Inwood had suffered a brain injury with his speech, eyesight and mobility being severely impacted by the attack.

He is also now experiencing regular seizures, mood swings and has lost his independence.

In a victim impact statement read out in court, he said: “My life is a daily struggle. I can’t walk in a straight line. I can’t dress myself, my father is caring for me. I still have no access to my daughter and it is breaking my heart.”

Tony Davis, defending, said the attack arose as a result of two years of “utter frustration” that had “boiled over”.

Pearson, of no fixed abode, has a long list of previous convictions for violence, including in 1996 when he was jailed for eight years for attacking three police officers with a knife.

Judge Sloan said: “You had the knife with you really to use as a weapon as neccessary.

“It was a cowardly attack – holding the knife behind your back to then catch Mr Inwood by surprise.

“The taunts do not begin to justify your subsequent actions. Using the knife you gave up to 10 blows or so, causing eight wounds and leaving him for dead.

“The only sentence I can pass is one of life given the possible threat to the public.”

Northern Chronicle

Newcastle neo-Nazi extremist jailed for terror offences

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December 23, 2020
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A one-man neo-Nazi “propaganda machine” who encouraged racist mass murder has been jailed for a string of terror offences.

Luke Hunter, 23, from Newcastle, created extremist material and ran accounts on multiple online platforms.

Hunter, the son of a former counter-terrorism officer, was arrested in 2019 at his home address.

He was affiliated with a now-banned terrorist organisation called the Feuerkrieg Division (FKD).

Hunter, of High Callerton, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to four years and two months in prison.

Hiding behind an alias, he posted extremist material to several online platforms, including his own website, podcast, and a channel on the Telegram messaging application.

He used the accounts to promote racial hatred and murder, telling followers that the “eradication” of Jewish people was a “moral and racial duty”.

Death threat film

On the Telegram channel, which had more than 1,000 subscribers, he posted violent neo-Nazi imagery and glorified various terrorists, including the London nail bomber and the man who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The channel was affiliated with FKD, which was banned in the UK as a terrorist organisation earlier this year.

Hunter, who communicated with the group’s young leader, produced video propaganda for FKD, with one film including death threats to the chief constable of the West Midlands. The force had charged an FKD member with planning a terrorist attack.

One of Hunter’s podcast guests was Alex Davies, co-founder of the banned extreme right-wing group National Action.

But Hunter was not only active online and travelled to Glasgow to deliver a speech at a far-right conference.

In October last year detectives searching the house where he lived with his mother found a large hunting knife and a life-size dummy covered in stab marks, prosecutors said.

‘Promoted killing techniques’

A preliminary court hearing heard Hunter’s father, with whom he did not live at the time of his arrest, spent years as a Metropolitan Police counter terrorism officer before transferring to a civilian role.

Hunter pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of encouraging terrorism and three of disseminating terrorist publications.

The prosecution argued that Hunter, who has been diagnosed with autism, was “deeply radicalised” and that his activity “smacks of a propaganda machine which has been designed to function over a number of platforms”.

Hunter admitted four counts of encouraging terrorism and three of disseminating terrorist publications

Det Ch Supt Martin Snowden, head of counter terrorism policing north east, said that Hunter’s online activity “glorified terrorism, promoted killing techniques and encouraged the killing of Jews, non-white races and homosexuals.”

He added: “Luke Hunter represents a threat to our society, not simply because of his mindset, but because of the considerable lengths he was prepared to go to in order to recruit and enable others in support of his cause”.

BBC News

Neo-Nazi who planned terror attacks given new jail sentence for child sex offences

By
December 23, 2020
Uncategorized

Boy, 17, convicted of five sexual assaults against a younger girl

One of the sketches made by the teenager
(Counter Terrorism Policing North East)

A teenage neo-Nazi who was jailed for planning terror attacks has been given a new sentence for child sex offences.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of five counts of sexually touching a girl under the age of 13.

He was given an 18-month detention and training order for the assaults at Leeds Youth Court on Wednesday.

District Judge Richard Kitson said the term could be served concurrently to his previous sentence of six years and eight months for preparing acts of terrorism.

“The offences [against the girl] are wholly different to those that have resulted in your current sentence and, in theory, consecutive sentences would be justified,” he told the defendant. “I think that would be inappropriate in view of the extended sentence which you are currently serving.”

The defendant is due to turn 18 this month, meaning the ban on identifying him would expire automatically, but his lawyers have applied to extend the reporting restriction.

At a separate hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Nicholas Dean QC granted an extension until a hearing where the arguments can be considered in full on 11 January.

The boy had detailed plans to firebomb synagogues and other buildings in the Durham area as part of what he believed was an upcoming “race war”.

Before being arrested, he wrote that his upcoming 12 weeks of study leave would be “showtime”.

He was convicted of six terror offences, including preparing acts of terrorism, disseminating terrorist publications and possessing material for terrorist purposes.

A court heard that he had been “tipped off” by a fellow extremist on the Fascist Forge forum that a police raid was imminent and deleted evidence as a result, but police could not corroborate that claim.

When he was arrested in March 2019, police found a piece of paper in his pocket containing a message in code that said: “Killing is probably easier than your paranoid mind thinks. You’re just not used to it.”

The boy was carrying a drawing of a fellow school pupil being beheaded, because he believed he was gay and deserved “judgement”.

After reading Norway shooter Anders Breivik’s manifesto, he had written his own version entitled: “Storm 88: A manual for practical sensible guerrilla warfare against the k**e [offensive term for a Jewish person] system in Durham city area, sieg hiel.”

It called for lone-wolf terror attacks to fight against a supposed “genocide” of white people and listed proposed attack targets in Durham, including schools, public transport and council buildings.

Writing on the Fascist Forge forum, the teenager claimed a race war was “inevitable”, and called himself an “accelerationist”.

Prosecutors said they had not identified a “particular act or acts” of terrorism that the boy was going to commit, but that he had been preparing for some kind of atrocity since October 2017.

He denied all offences, claiming he had adopted the terrorist persona for “shock value” and did not want to carry out attacks, but was convicted unanimously of all charges in November 2019.

The court heard that the boy had been an “adherent of a right-wing ideology” since the age of 13, and that his views became more extreme as he immersed himself in fascist websites and forums.

By 2017, he was describing himself as a neo-Nazi and operated a since-deleted Twitter account with a handle referring to a British fascist leader.

His racist and homophobic tweets drew the attention of police but when he was interviewed in September that year, he claimed they were posted “for a laugh”.

The teenager initially agreed to take part in the Prevent counter-radicalisation programme but later stopped engaging.

The boy claimed he was not an extremist, but started another Twitter account and continued communicating with contacts, while accessing a “large quantity of extreme right-wing literature” online and in hard copy.

The court heard he had steeped himself in antisemitic conspiracy theories and ranted about Jewish governors at his school, Jewish MPs and the press.

In August 2018, he described himself as a “radical national socialist” and follower of Adolf Hitler, saying he had read Mein Kampf and had a photo of the Nazi leader on his phone.

Prosecutors said the boy obtained and shared terror manuals on making explosives and firearms on the Ironmarch and Fascist Forge online forums, but also drew on jihadi propaganda.

He had searched for Isis execution videos and used al-Qaeda literature, as well as a jihadi guide on making deadly poisons, including ricin.

By November 2018, he had progressed to extreme occult neo-Nazism and voiced support for satanism.

The teenager declared his support for the “siege” ideology, which was started by an American neo-Nazi and advocates the use of terror attacks to trigger a race war.

“Democracy is very much a dead system; political violence therefore, can only help us,” he wrote. “The white race is being silently genocided, the west is dying.”

Sentencing him for the terror offences earlier this year, the previous Recorder of Manchester, Judge David Stockdale QC, found the teenager’s subsequently diagnosed autism spectrum disorder played a part in his offending.

He described the youth as “highly intelligent, widely read, quick-thinking and articulate” but told him that it was “a matter of infinite regret that you pursued at such a young age a twisted and – many would say – a sick ideological path”.

The Independent