A teenager accused of amassing an ‘arsenal of weapons’ in preparation for a terrorist attack on a synagogue stored Nazi memorabilia in his cottage bedroom, a court heard on Wednesday.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is said to have been filled with ‘hate and racism’ and joined a banned neo-Nazi group which encouraged its followers to ignite a race war.
He was arrested in February last year at the cottage he shared with his father in Northumberland while wearing his school uniform, Leeds Crown Court was told.
On the second day of his trial on Wednesday, jurors were shown images of the boy’s bedroom which had an air rifle hanging on the wall and an air shotgun with the words ‘natural selection’ and ‘George Floyd‘ scrawled on the barrel, in reference to the black man murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis in 2020. A crossbow was also found on top of a set of shelves.
Jurors were also shown an image taken from a video downloaded to the teenager’s laptop which showed a male wearing a skull mask, hat and goggles and holding a rifle.
At the end of the video clip, the figure puts a magazine into the firearm and aims it directly at the camera.
Also found in the room were five knives, two military tactical vests, military helmets, two skull masks, a German military jacket and a Nazi SS officer’s cap.
The court had earlier heard that the schoolboy had researched a synagogue in Newcastle as a potential target for a far-right attack and had joined a ‘neo-Nazi paramilitary hate group’ called The Base.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is said to have been filled with ‘hate and racism’ and joined a banned neo-Nazi group which encouraged its followers to ignite a race war
In his room, five knives, two military tactical vests, military helmets, two skull masks, a German military jacket and a Nazi SS officer’s cap were found
Pictured: The Nazi SS officer’s cap that was found in the room and shown to the court
Opening the case to the jury, prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said: ‘He believed in a race war, in white supremacy and he planned to carry out acts of terrorism in furtherance of his beliefs.’
On Wednesday, the court heard that police found a diary belonging to the teen in which he described how he was bullied at school and hated by female pupils.
In one entry, written on January 30 2023, when he was aged 13, the boy wrote: ‘I swear to God I hate my f**king school.
‘I want to do horrible things to the people in my school. They are just stupid, loud and just overall obnoxious npcs [non-playing characters]. Some of them should be shot.’
He went on to list a ‘Mass Murder Ranking’ topped by Anders Breivik who killed 77 people in Norway, writing: ‘Ultimately he the best he killed the most amount of people to get his point across to people in the world.’
Second on the list were Columbine High School shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 14 people.
He wrote: ‘They had an amazing plan but they could’ve and should’ve killed more.’
In another entry he wrote: ‘In other terms I’m angry because I know that I will never have a girlfriend.’
The bedroom in the home in Northumberland of a 16-year-old boy accused of plotting a terror attack on local synagogues
The 16-year-old was arrested in February last year at the cottage he shared with his father in Northumberland while wearing his school uniform, Leeds Crown Court was told. Pictured: A spent cartridge containing white powder found in the home
The court has heard that on December 22, 2024, a few days after turning 15, the youth used the Amazon website to purchase potassium nitrate powder and watched a video on how to make black powder explosives.
Later that month, he researched Brenton Tarrant, who shot dead 51 worshipers at two mosques in Christchurch New Zealand and then went on to look up a synagogue in Newcastle.
On New Year’s Eve 2024, he looked for homemade .22 ammunition and a 3D printed firearm known as an FGC-9.
Detective Sergeant Jonathan Garrad was among the officers who carried out the raid on the boy’s home.
Asked what the teenager, then aged 15, did after his arrest, the officer told the court: ‘He put his head in his hands, bent over and shook his head.’
Frida Hussain KC, defending, asked if the boy looked ‘shocked and helpless.’
DS Garrad said: ‘That’s what I have written in my statement, yes.’
The youth denies preparing acts of terrorism, membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation, possession of terrorist documents and dissemination of terrorist documents.
The trial continues.
