Court told teenager is 'not a terrorist'

25 November 2017, 07:24

A schoolboy accused of planning an Isis-inspired attack in Cardiff has a "stupid interest in the gory" but is not a terrorist, his barrister has told a court.

In his closing speech to a jury trying the 17-year-old, defence counsel Delroy Henry likened the youth's web-based interest in so-called Islamic State to rubberneckers on the motorway network.

The defendant, who cannot be named because of his age, denies preparing for acts of terrorism in June this year, encouraging terrorism online through Instagram posts and possessing two editions of an Isis propaganda magazine.

Addressing jurors in the second week of the boy's trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Henry said: "He has told you in effect that he was drawn into it, curiosity getting the better of him."

Asserting that what was in the mind of the teenager was at the heart of the trial, Mr Henry told the jury panel internet browser evidence did not prove the boy was planning an attack.

Mr Henry said of the evidence - which included a search for details of security at a Justin Bieber concert: "This is all steeped on curiosity. This is not planning, this is not preparation, it is nowhere near.

"A terrorist, ladies and gentlemen, is what they (the Crown) say he is. Is he?

"A stupid interest in the gory? Attack planning it is not."

The youngster, from Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, is alleged to have written a "martyrdom letter" and was arrested at his home on June 30, by police officers who found a claw hammer and a knife in his school bag.

Matthew Brook, prosecuting, said in his closing speech: "I could have held up the knife, the hammer, and the suicide note.

"The gutting knife is a knife for cutting fish and meat, that he picked up and put in his rucksack, knowing how sharp and lethal it was and having researched how best to stab and kill.

"The hammer to increase the carnage, the suicide note written using words and terms an Isis supporter would - because that's what he had become.

"All I ask is you look at all the evidence fully because when you do that you will be sure the defendant is guilty of all five counts on the indictment."

The case was adjourned until Monday, when Judge Mark Wall QC is expected to send the jury of seven men and five women out to begin their deliberations.

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