Neo-Nazi Teenager Alina Burns Handed 19.5-Year Extended Sentence For Attempted Axe Beheading Of Kurdish Barber In Bristol

A neo-Nazi sympathiser who attempted to behead a Kurdish barber with an axe in a self-proclaimed bid to kill Muslims and Jews has been sentenced to 15 and a half years in prison at Bristol Crown Court. Alina Burns, 19, targeted Mohammed Mahmoodi, 27, outside his workplace in Bedminster, Bristol, last August, inflicting a neck wound before the complainant managed to disarm her. Mrs Justice Lambert ruled that the offence carried a **terrorist connection** under sentencing guidelines, declaring Burns a dangerous offender and imposing an extended sentence comprising the custodial term alongside an additional four years on licence. Burns, of Lynton Road, Bristol, had previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder and three counts of possession of a bladed article, relating to an axe, a scalpel, and two darts.

The court heard that the prosecution case identified Burns as holding an extreme right-wing mindset, driven by a desire for non-white individuals to be expelled from the United Kingdom. On the day preceding the attack, the defendant viewed video footage of historical SS marches and transmitted an email entitled "The dawn of civil war." **Counter-terrorism** investigators established that Burns had become radicalised through online media, accessing material concerning Nazi Germany, the Southport stabbings, and far-right ideology. Five months prior to the incident, the defendant communicated via a digital dating application with an unidentified male, stating she intended to bring change to the country through unspecified means and directing him to execute Jewish and Islamic citizens.

During the incident on 2 August, Burns approached the complainant from behind on East Street and swung a newly purchased axe at his neck. The complainant, who had sought asylum in the United Kingdom after fleeing persecution in Iran, managed to overpower the 5ft 2in defendant to prevent subsequent blows. Following her immediate arrest by a nearby police officer, Burns stated she intended to sever the complainant's neck and expressed a desire to repeat the act successfully. In a subsequent assessment under the Mental Health Act, the defendant asserted that she targeted the business because she believed it was involved in money laundering, reasoning that her actions would compel a police investigation into the premises. She further inquired if the event had received media coverage, expressing a desire to influence others to replicate the attack.

A search of the defendant's residence uncovered computer files containing a terrorist handbook alongside handwritten notes detailing nuclear weaponry, fertiliser-based explosives, Adolf Hitler's writings, and German wartime military units. Forensic analysis of her digital devices also revealed participation in Telegram messaging channels associated with the nationalist group Patriotic Alternative. In a victim personal statement read to the court, the complainant detailed the ongoing physical and psychological trauma of the assault, noting permanent scarring, restricted neck mobility, severe sleep disruption, and persistent anxiety regarding his personal safety.

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Mitigating, Andrew Langdon KC outlined a background of social isolation and instability, noting that the defendant ceased full-time education at the age of 14 following a period of family homelessness and subsequent residence in temporary accommodation. The defence submission stated that the preceding years represented a significant behavioral descent. In her sentencing remarks, Mrs Justice Lambert emphasised that the defendant remained deeply entrenched in an abnormal belief system, noting her expressed desire to claim personal glory for the planned violence. Under the terms of the extended sentence, Burns will be required to serve at least two-thirds of her custodial term before becoming eligible to apply for release to the Parole Board.