UK's youngest terror offender, boy, 16, sentenced

A teenager who is the youngest person in the UK to commit a terror offence has been given a two-year youth rehabilitation order.

The 16-year-old boy from Cornwall admitted 12 offences including downloading a bomb-making manual.

At the Old Bailey, Judge Mark Dennis QC said a custodial sentence would “undo” the progress made since the boy was arrested in July 2019.

The teenager, who cannot be named, had “significant vulnerabilities”, he said.

The boy collected far right material and expressed racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views on online platforms between 2018 and July 2019, the court heard.