Elham Asaad Buaras
A teenager from Wiltshire who wanted to “shoot up a mosque” and kill 10,000 people has been given a rehabilitation order on January 7.
A 24-month order was issued to the boy at Southampton Youth Court after pleading guilty to possessing material likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
Counter-terror police reported an increase in right-wing terror threats.
A spokesman for Counterterrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said that “concerned” citizens reported the boy after he posted “numerous racist comments” in online forums.
“ [He] had talked about wanting to kill Muslims by ‘shooting up a mosque’,” they added. The teenager was arrested on June 18, and during a property-search, detectives uncovered a handwritten note called ‘The Big Plan’.
“This contained details of how to make a bomb, several named locations and individuals who were believed to be aspirational targets, and an intention to kill over 10,000 people,” the spokesman added.
Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, head of CTPSE, praised the people who had contacted the anti-terrorism hotline to report the behaviour.
“I know this case may be concerning to certain members of the community who were the target of the atrocious hatred,” she said.
“We have seen an increase in the proportion of our investigations from the threat from extreme right-wing terrorism who wish to cause harm in our communities. We take that threat very seriously, and this is why the whole of the counter-terrorism community, as well as the whole of society, has a role to play in tackling it.”
Wiltshire Police’s Assistant Chief Constable, Deb Smith, said: “I hope that our communities feel reassured that we acted swiftly, in conjunction with our partners, to ensure that this individual was detained and could no longer pose a risk to the wider public.”
