‘Incel’ teen obsessed with Southport killings admits terror offence

Teen terror suspect idolised Southport killer, researched copycat attacks on Taylor Swift events, stockpiled knives and extremist manuals before arrest.

A teenager obsessed with the Southport mass stabbing has admitted a terrorism offence after plotting a copycat attack linked to a Taylor Swift-themed event.

The 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to possession of documents useful for terrorism, after downloading and storing a collection of extremist and mass-casualty manuals.

The court heard the youth had become fixated on the July 2024 Southport killings carried out by Axel Rudakubana and researched potential copycat attacks, including events associated with Taylor Swift, on the anniversary of the atrocity.

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He saw Axel — whose online activity revealed a fascination with controlling and dominating women, as well as with grievance-based violence — as a model.

Both offenders showed an interest in violent attacks, including downloading a ‘jihadi’ instructional manual linked to al-Qaeda terrorism.

Prosecutors said the case was being treated as one of grievance-based violence and copycat fixation, rather than terrorism driven by a political or religious ideology.

The court heard the teenager had downloaded a number of prohibited documents between January and May last year, including instructions for making ricin, the Improvised Munitions Handbook, the Anarchist Cookbook 2000 and the al-Qaeda Training Manual.

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Although the offence carries a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment for an adult, the Crown made clear it was not alleging the teenager had a terrorist ideology, nor that he had taken steps amounting to the preparation of a terrorist attack.

Authorities first became aware on August 6 last year, when the teenager rang 999 from the bathroom of his grandparents’ home and told the operator he had intended to carry out a copycat attack on the anniversary of the Southport incident. He said he was “captivated” by the idea of violence but had not carried out an attack because there were no nearby events suitable for him to target. Police attended the address and arrested him shortly afterwards.