A 15-year-old schoolboy, who converted to Islam, planned to attack the Isle of Wight music festival using a vehicle and knife, a court has heard.
The youth, who cannot be named, was arrested on the day of his alleged planned attack and found with a knife in his rucksack and notes saying he was going to “slice” the throat of a teacher, prosecutors at his trail have said.
It was alleged that the teenager, from the Isle of Wight and now aged 16, said one teacher had drawn the face of Allah and wrote: “You shouldn’t feel safe. I have not forgotten the time you drew a face and claimed it was God.”
The court heard the boy converted to Islam in the autumn of 2021 and it was initially seen as having a positive impact.
However, after a few months, jurors were told his views hardened and he had to be provided with taxis to get to school because he refused to travel with women.
He developed an “Islamist extremist mindset” that culminated in him taking steps to launch a terrorist attack in July 2022, Serena Gates, prosecuting, said.
The boy allegedly researched the Isle of Wight festival online as a potential target and looked at weapons, vehicles, stab vests and other items, Kingston Crown Court was told.
He later discounted the Isle of Wight festival as a target because he did not have a vehicle and instead planned to attack individuals who worked at the educational unit where he was studying, it was alleged.
He wrote notes, found on the day he was arrested, including one titled “to my family”, which justified his actions and “made clear what he would have done would be driven by hatred for the kuffar [non-believers],” Ms Gates said.
The youth was also said to have shared links to terrorist videos, related to ISIS, called Ma Vengeance – “my revenge” – and “O Disbelievers of the World”.
“Parts of the videos contained graphic images of violence and executions,” Ms Gates said.
“The videos and documents were largely propaganda, designed to promote the ideological cause of the terrorist group and encourage the killing and revenge attacks of disbelievers or non-Muslims,” she added.
Counter terrorism police in Britain became aware of the teenager as a result of information shared by the FBI about a user on a gaming platform called Discord, with the screen name TawhidOverKufir – meaning “god over disbelief”, the court heard.
The user was allegedly planning an attack on 11 July 2022 and, that afternoon, police went to an educational unit for pupils with “complex needs” and arrested the teenager.
His bag was searched and a stainless-steel kitchen knife recovered, along with a series of handwritten notes, prosecutors claimed in court.
One note on a torn off piece of card was said to state: “Did you think you could commit major sins such as eating pork. We see ur aggression. Stay away from the Muslims unless you want your throat sliced.”
The second note, titled “To My Family” had the word “Mum” added and jurors were told it read: “Please know that anything which happens did not be caused by you [sic] and what you limited me from doing.
“Rather if anything does happen then it was fueled by my hatred to the kuffar.”
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The third note was headed “Disbelievers”, it was claimed in court, and went on to state that the “kuffar” were “terrorists” because of their aggression towards Muslims.
It allegedly stated: “Indeed, you disbelievers should think very carefully before attacking the Muslims and the attacks which you receive are fueled by your horrible, unjust aggression towards the muslims and they will not stop so long as you, O Britain, ally yourselves to America.”
A fourth note titled “My Brothers” was said to have made reference to various groups he considered non-believers, including Shia Muslims, and listed his social media accounts.
A Reddit account was called Mental_Pilot_14 and there were Instagram accounts named as “Islamic resting place” and “Tawhid over kufr”, along with a Discord account of the same name, the court was told.
Further notes were found at the boy’s home, including one that named a teacher at the school and read “this man drew claiming it was Allah” and “Kill the kuffar wherever you find them” and had an address for the teacher, prosecutors said.
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A second piece of card also allegedly referred to the teacher and stated: “You shouldn’t feel safe… I have not forgotten the time you drew a face and claimed it was God.”
Any such drawings can be extremely offensive to those of the Muslim faith, the court was told.
The teacher was interviewed by police and recalled one general conversation where he had been talking to the youth and made a brief “doodle” to illustrate a concept, according to the prosecution.
The youth was said to have asked whether it was a picture of God and the teacher replied that it was “just a shape to illustrate our thoughts”.
The Isle of Wight Festival, which ran from 16-19 June 2022, attracted a crowd of 90,000 music lovers for headliners including Craig David, Lewis Capaldi and Muse.
The boy denies charges of preparing acts of terrorism, possession of a knife and disseminating terrorist publications.
The trial continues.
