British teen who praised Southport murderer jailed for possessing Al-Qaeda manual
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McKenzie Morgan planned to bomb a reunion concert by British rock band Oasis.
PHOTOS: X, REUTERS
- Teenager McKenzie Morgan praised a killer and planned a "Rudakubana-style terrorist attack", researching stabbing techniques and potential targets.
- Morgan also planned to bomb an Oasis concert and attempted to make ricin; an Al-Qaeda training manual was found on his device.
- Despite claiming no intention to attack, Morgan was sentenced to 14 months' detention for possessing terrorist information; he has autism and is vulnerable to radicalisation.
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LONDON - A British teenager who praised the killer of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event and said he planned to bomb British rock band Oasis’ reunion concert was sentenced to detention on Jan 16 for possession of an Al-Qaeda manual.
McKenzie Morgan, 18, was arrested at his home in Wales after sending messages on social media platform Snapchat in which he praised Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three girls and stabbed 10 others
Morgan told a psychiatric nurse on the morning of his arrest in June that he “planned to commit a Rudakubana-style terrorist attack” and had been researching how to stab people, Ms Bramwell told Morgan’s sentencing hearing at London’s Old Bailey court.
The teenager twice tried to buy a 15cm kitchen knife from Amazon, searched online for local playgrounds and a youth dance academy and put the academy on a document on his mobile phone entitled “places to attack”, Ms Bramwell added.
She said Morgan later told another Snapchat user that he planned to bomb the Oasis concert
He was arrested on June 2 and a 188-page Al-Qaeda training manual was found on one of his electronic devices. Morgan pleaded guilty to a single count of possession of information likely to be of use to a person engaged in terrorism.
Morgan accepted having saved the Al-Qaeda manual and reading it, but told police he had no intention to commit an attack and simply intended to shock others with his messages.
He has been diagnosed with autism and two psychiatrists assessed Morgan as being vulnerable to being groomed or radicalised online, Bramwell told the court.
Judge Sarah Whitehouse sentenced Morgan to 14 months’ detention in a young offenders’ institution. REUTERS
