A teenage boy has been convicted of terror offences after being radicalised online and encouraged by Russian extremists to to plot an attack on a synagogue.
The defendant, who was 15 at the time, was recruited via a Telegram bot that sent daily messages urging him to carry out an attack.
Prosecutors said the messages were sent by Russian speakers and may have been AI-generated.
Leeds Crown Court heard police discovered a diary in which he wrote he wanted to attack because he was being bullied and felt hated by female pupils.
The boy, who lived in a remote cottage in Northumbria, told the court the bullying began in secondary school because he was taller than his peers and “more well-spoken than most people”.
He admitted joining racist Snapchat conversations and sharing “gore” videos depicting beheadings because they were “going around” and he wanted to “fit in”.
When officers raided his home, they found bomb-making manuals, explosive chemicals, a crossbow and five knives.
Military helmets, tactical vests, skull masks and a German camouflage jacket were also seized. His bedroom displayed white supremacist flags and a Nazi SS officer’s cap.
The teenager, who cannot be named due to his age, possessed a ‘arsenal’ of terrorist material
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COUNTERTERRORISM POLICE NORTHEAST
Mounted on the wall was an airsoft shotgun scrawled with far-right slogans in imitation of Christchurch killer Brenton Tarrant.
Michelle Heeley KC, prosecuting, told jurors the teenager had “an arsenal worthy of any young right-wing terrorist”.
She said his diary and online messages were written by someone “filled with hate and racism” who was “building up to real-life action” and intended to livestream the attack using a GoPro camera.
The court heard he had put up recruitment posters reading “Save your race, join the Base” and volunteered to blow up a mobile phone mast using homemade explosives.
His room, decorated with white supremacist symbols and a Nazi SS officer’s cap
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COUNTERTERRORISM POLICE NORTHEAST
Air rifle seized by police counterterrorism police
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COUNTERTERRORISM POLICE NORTHEAST
He also researched the location of the Newcastle Reform Synagogue and became obsessed with mass killers who targeted schools and synagogues.
On New Year’s Eve he searched for homemade .22 ammunition and 3D-printed firearms.
Prosecutors said he escalated rapidly and was in contact with the Russian leader of The Base, a group proscribed in 2021.
He was arrested at his home shortly after 7.20am on February 20 last year while wearing his school uniform.
The jury unanimously convicted him of possession and dissemination of terrorist documents and membership of a proscribed organisation.
They were unable to reach a verdict on preparing acts of terrorism after he claimed he was “playing a character” and never intended to carry out the plans.
He will be sentenced next month.