Northumberland teenager planned synagogue terror attack, court told

A teenager who joined a banned neo-Nazi group researched synagogues where he planned to carry out terror attacks, a court has heard.

Police found an “arsenal” of weapons, explosives and military clothing, as well as notepads in which he expressed racist beliefs, and terrorist documents on his phone and computer when they carried out a raid in February, jurors heard.

The 16-year-old from Northumberland is on trial where he denies preparing acts of terrorism, membership of a proscribed group known as The Base, possession of terror documents and sharing terror publications.

Michelle Heeley KC said the boy had a “hatred of Jews, of black people, of anyone who didn’t conform to his racial ideals”.

Opening the case at Leeds Crown Court, Heeley said: “The defendant in this case is 16 years old, and he wanted to be a terrorist.

“He believed in a race war, in white supremacy and he planned to carry out acts of terrorism in furtherance of his beliefs.

“He became a member of a right-wing terrorist group and shared his beliefs with others.”

She told the court: “He filmed videos of himself posing in full military gear, he collected and shared videos of other terrorists committing acts of atrocity, such as killing black people, and he also kept a notebook where he expressed his rage at people, and his desire to kill.”

She said that aged just 13, the boy made contact with The Base, which she described as a “neo-Nazi paramilitary hate group” which wanted to start a race war.

Heeley described the teenager’s “obsession” with extremism and how he collected videos of terror attacks and ranked killers who had carried out atrocities against minorities across the globe.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, asked a contact at The Base what he could do to help and was told to promote the banned organisation, to put up flyers and to attract recruits – which the prosecution said he did.

He bought chemicals online with a view to making explosives and discussed blowing up an electricity substation or a mobile phone mast near his home, the court heard.

Heeley said that in December 2024, immediately after researching the Christchurch mosque attack in New Zealand, the boy looked up synagogues in the Newcastle area.

She said: “He researched local synagogues and we say he was gathering weapons, identifying targets, preparing for acts of terrorism.”

Heeley said: “We understand that the defendant denies he had any intention to commit acts of terror, anything he wrote down were just empty words, he claims.

“The prosecution deny this and point to his active research, his messages, the fact he had collected weapons and material to create explosives, these were more than words, this was a young man actively preparing for a terrorist act and had the police not got there in time, who knows what he may have done.”

The case was adjourned until Wednesday.