Britain’s youngest terrorist who led neo-Nazi cell from his grandmother’s cottage in Cornwall after committing first offence age 13 is spared jail
- Britain’s youngest convicted terrorist led a neo-Nazi cell from his gran’s house
- The boy was aged just 13 when he got his hands on instructions for explosives
- At 14 he amassed stash of terror material and shared far-right extremist ideology
- Pleaded guilty to 12 offences and given a 24-month youth rehabilitation order
Britain’s youngest convicted terrorist who masterminded a notorious neo-Nazi cell from his grandmother’s cottage, walked free from court today.
The teenager, who was 13 at the time of the first offence, and 15 at the time of the last one, lives with his grandmother in rural Cornwall.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, became the leader of the UK branch of Feuerkrieg Division (FKD) in 2019.
Police attended his grandmother’s home to find a swastika flag and the extremist codes ’14’ and 88′ – standing for ‘Heil Hitler’ painted across the garden shed.
When he was arrested, the teenager told officers he had made homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic posts online to ‘look cool.’
Material seized by police from one of the boy’s recruits after they smashed the far-right ring
This offensive material was collected by police from a member of the Feuerkrieg Division
These items were recovered during the investigation into cell member Luke Hunter
The appalling racist bile from the schoolboy terror cell in Cornwall
The schoolboy leader of FKD was only 14 when he chatted with Dunleavy, then 15, about how to make deadly weapons and before Dunleavy made plans to visit a gun shop, the prosecutor said.
Hailing Anders Brevik, the 2011 Norway killer who claimed 77 lives, a ‘saint,’ the teenager called on cult members to spray paint ‘£Breivikdidnothingwrong.’
The youth sourced far-right manifestos with which to vet recruits, including a document called ‘Natural Born Killers 2000’ which urges readers to ‘maim’ people and ’cause mass terror.’
He sent the file to ‘Commander’ for approval saying ‘NBK2000 sort of covers everything.’
Terrorist documents recovered from the boy’s computer included The Big Book of Mischief, the Terrorist Handbook, Home Made Molotov Cocktail and various instruction manuals for ‘killing people with knives’ and ‘hand-to-hand combat.’
The young leader vetted five members and ran the operation for more than a month before police hunted him down.
Ms Parsons said: ‘Count 1 concerns an image of atom bomb/mushroom cloud explosion over the Houses of Parliament, above which is written “Sterilize the cesspit that you call London” (the “Nuke London” image).
‘The FKD-GB shield/logo, comprising a Union Jack flag with the Waffen SS insignia upon it, is at the foot of the image. On 26 June 2019, Commander suggested a Nuke London poster for FKD-GB. he requested the image from another FKD member, EksD, suggesting “a pic of London with sh**tons of non-whites in it”.
‘He posted the image on FKD Wire chat on 22 July 2019 at 17:19. There were 28 members of the FKD wire chat, of which around six were active at the time of posting and who express comments of approval.
‘The context in which he posts the image is in a discussion in which he advocates “nuking” London and New York, and praises individuals who have committed racial mass murder, particularly Anders Breivik. On 21 July 2019, FKD members discuss how they can mark the anniversary of Breivik’s attack, which took place on 22 July 2011.
‘The youth suggests spray painting “£Breivikdidnothingwrong”, and on 22 July 2019, he posts “HAPPY ST BREIVIK DAY”.
‘Immediately after he posts the Nuke London image (Count 1), he posts an image of the island of Utoya, and writes “I would love to visit this completely random island upon which nothing happened 8 years ago today.”
‘Later the same day, he posts an image of Breivik appearing at court, with a Swastika and the words “in hoc signo vinces” (“in this sign thou shalt conquer”).
‘This is the motto of the English Defence League adopted in Breivik’s Complete Manifesto.
‘On 23 July 2019, Commander and [the boy] post about the need for action amongst FKD members.
‘Commander expresses disappointment that only two people in the group “do something”.
‘[He] picks up the theme as follows, [posting]: ‘Recruitment has been closed for at least a month. I want the current members to be active and for us to organize. I also want to hold a vc [voice call] with most or all of the members.”
‘Commander says: “Get off grid, get together and organize. Stop sitting behind a computer screen. Get out there and organise. Your race needs you.
‘[He] sends Commander NBK2000, telling him it is “outdated but still good* it has some good stuff in it”. Indeed, in interview, [he] states that NBK2000 “had it all in one” (I95e) and “sort of covers everything” (I105e). Commander responds by sending back “A Practical Guide to The Aryan Revolution”.
‘I’m told Commander was 13 when he was arrested. Certainly I’ve not seen communications in which Commander reveals his age,’ Ms Parsons added.
Judge Dennis said: ‘The facts of this case are of course extremely serious but I’m not dealing with an adult, I’m dealing with someone who was 14 at one stage, 13 during the time of the offending.
‘We’re dealing with children online sending between themselves and other children or other adults such extremist material.’
He became involved with Feuerkrieg Division (FKD), which was led by an individual based in Estonia, known as ‘Commander’, and had around 30 members from European countries, USA and Canada.
The British cell, FKD_GB, was formed in June 2019, one month before the teenager’s arrest, and had five members.
Police moved in to search his home address on July 23, 2019 and found a Nazi flag, a hard copy of Iron Gates – a key text for neo-Nazis – and the number ‘1488’ painted onto the garden shed, a Nazi slogan.
The numbers are code for the 14 words: ‘We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children’ and ‘Heil Hitler.’
The teenager had been had been interested in the far-right since early 2018 and joined a forum called Fascist Forge in October 2018, a far-right group which encouraged the creation of small terrorist cells and shared guides on military combat and how to make explosives.
Between October 2018 and July 2019, the teenager collected ‘a significant volume’ of far- right materials and manuals.
He was active on far-right platforms, and was even banned from one for his extreme views.
On various far-right chat forums, and in one-to-one chats, he expressed racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views.
The teenager got in touch with the ‘Commander’ of FKD in May 2019 – who was also aged 13 – and by June 11, he had been appointed the ‘UK cell leader’.
Naomi Parsons, prosecuting, said the teenager was ‘under no illusion as to the nature and purpose of FKD.’ and pledged his allegiance unless ‘FKD got proscribed as a terrorist organisation or SHTF’ – a reference to s**t hits the fan, said to refer to a race war.
As ‘cell leader’, the boy was responsible for recruitment for FKD_GB, using far-right platforms, such as Discord and Fascist Forge to bolster his membership, and vetting applicants who wanted to join.
As recruiter, he would send prospective members a list of questions and then judge their answers with a view to trying to keep out any security risks ‘so that nothing can be traced back to me’.
Among his recruits was Paul Dunleavy, 16, a grammar school pupil from Rugby, with whom the teenager discussed the acquisition of firearms and who was jailed for five and a half years for preparing acts of terrorism last November.
Another, Luke Hunter, 23, used the name Death Cult Posting to pump out propaganda for FKD and was jailed for four years and two months in December.
In keeping with the FKD drive for action rather than words, he initiated discussion in the FKD chat on July 19 about killing drugs dealers, ‘to get a few kills to FKD’s name’ and as a possible way of attracting more ‘serious’ members.
The teenager encouraged members to be ‘active’ and on July 23, he warned that ‘failure of activity will result in expulsion.’
Having established the group, he set up a chat group on an application called Wire on July 10, explaining to a new recruit that FKD is ‘everyone’ and is for ‘general discussion’, whereas FKD_GB is ‘where we plan stuff’.
The teenager had a collection of weapons manuals and, on April 29, he downloaded instructions on how to build a shotgun out of piping.
His internet history from May to July 2019 showed multiple searches about guns and visits to websites selling guns.
On July 7, he asked Commander about the best place to buy an AK47 and then downloaded a document called ‘UndergroundAK47Buildmanual’ and visited a website selling parts for AK47s.
On July 19, the teenager emailed ‘guns of egypt’ and asked: ‘What stock do currently have and is it safe to buy from you?’.
On July 23, Commander and the boy posted about the need for action by FKD members with Commander expressing his disappointment that only two people in the group ‘do something’.
The teenager, using the name ‘Marand’ said: ‘Recruitment has been closed for at least a month. I want the current members to be active and for us to organize. I also want to hold a vc [voice call] with most or all of the members’
Commander advised him: ‘Get off grid, get together and organize. Stop sitting behind a computer screen. Get out there and organise. Your race needs you.’
On October 14 2019, following examination of the devices seized, police arrested the teenager for terrorism offences.
In police interview, he denied having had any racist, homophobic or anti-Semitic views, and said his comments and posts were ‘to look cool’ and to look like [he] was doing something for ‘the cause’.
He said he had been thinking for about a month that he wanted to leave FKD and Wire and planned to do so on his birthday at the end of July.
Ms Parsons told the court: ‘The Crown does not accept [the boy’s] assertion to police in interview, and later to the psychiatrist and psychologist, that he was planning on leaving FKD.’
Now aged 16, he pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of terrorist material and 10 counts of possession of material likely to be of use to terrorism.
Paul Dunleavy was recruited into the group by the teenager and poses here in a sick heil pose
FKD describes itself as ‘a decentralised network’ of ‘revolutionary National Socialists’ [Nazis] ‘who have accepted that there is no political solution’ and encourages individuals to commit lone-wolf attacks.
It was founded on October 20 2018, and struggled to gain a footing in its early months, but started up again in June 2019, ‘with an emphasis on finding individuals willing to translate words into deeds’, according to expert Prof Matthew Feldman.
The group has established ‘cells’ in various countries, including Britain and by February 2020, when FKD claimed to shut down, its official Telegram channel had more than 1,300 subscribers.
It is said to have a violent, racist, anti-Semitic, anti-State ideology, regarding all non-whites as ‘sub-humans’ and states a desire to enact ‘white jihad’.
Those who have killed in the name of the white race – such as Andrew Breivik, Dylann Roof and Brenton Tarrant – are hailed as ‘saints’ on the FKD Wire chat.
Their online presence is marked by the posting of weapons, particularly guns and knives, and instructions on how to make and use them, as well as videos of the live streaming of mass shootings.
Several members have progressed from online action to action in real life including an FKD member known as EksD, who designed a poster called ‘Nuke London’, who was linked to a bomb attempt in Lithuania.
Two FKD members based in the US were charged with making bomb explosives, and distributing information relating to explosives and mass destruction.
In June 2019, the boy discussed with Commander whether he could get in touch with members of the banned far right group, National Action, with whom he had previously connected on Discord.
By July 10, the group had been recognised by another extreme far-right group called Atomwaffen Division, in Germany, who were ‘legit pointing people in our direction.’
The group were proscribed by parliament as a terrorist organisation on July 26 2020.
In Britain, a member of FKD_GB called Paul Dunleavy, who used the name ‘DV’ on the Wire chat, was recruited by the teenager on July 20 2019.
Deni Matthews, defending, described the teenager as a ‘damaged young man who sought approval by expressing views he certainly does not ascribe to now and was unlikely to have ascribed to genuinely at the time.’
On various far-right chat forums, and in one-to-one chats, the teenager expressed racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views.
On March 17 2019, he said he wanted to make a nail bomb and kill any ‘n*** and gays’ and on July 4, he talked of ‘shooting up’ a gay pride parade or driving through the parade in a truck full of explosives.
He wanted to gas all Jewish people, ‘shoot up’ homosexuals and ‘hang race mixing w****s and shoot the men’.
On July 13, he told followers he wanted to put a brick through the window of ‘the local n***er’.
The teenager had a copy of Brenton Tarrant’s manifesto, The Great Replacement, saved to this computer in a folder titled ‘Christchurch shootings’.
Also in the folder were two copies of the Facebook Live stream of the shooting, one of which had mocking sound effects. He also had a copy of the live streaming on his mobile phone.
In a discussion about the shootings in the FKD Wire chats, the boy expressed admiration for Tarrant, saying ‘it doesn’t matter what he thought in terms of the nitty gritty he actually had the guts to do something’ – at the same time, applauding his ‘high score’, a reference to the number of Tarrant’s victims.
The boy also had a copy of the manifesto of John Earnest, who killed an individual in a synagogue during the Jewish Passover holiday in San Diego in 2019.
The shooting was the subject of discussion in the FKD chat on July 12 when one member, Ben, told the group that someone in his area was ‘going to move on a Synagogue’ and take ‘direct action after recon is conducted and people are put in position’. FKD members responded with approval.
Also on his computer was an image of ashes with the text ‘Do it again Uncle Adolf’.
Among the documents he had one titled ‘NBK2000.pdf’, standing for Natural Born Killers, which stated: ‘Every resistance group uses assassination (murder) and torture (rape) as weapons against the agents of the State.’
One section titled ‘Random terror & killing’ read: ‘Here is where all the ideas about how to kill random people and cause mass terror are located.’
The teenager’s collection of bomb-making instructions included: The Big Book of Mischief, the Terrorist Handbook, General Thermite Formula, C1 Plastic explosive step by step, Napalm recipe, and Homemade molotov cocktail.
Ms Parsons said aggravating factors, included the significant volume of terrorist publications and the fact the offending was committed over a period of a year
‘There was a specifically targeted audience, namely the far-right extremists on the FKD Wire Chat and communication with known extremists.
‘There was deliberate use of encrypted communications or similar technologies to facilitate the commission of the offence and impede detection.
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