Some MI5 material will not be heard in teen's inquest

Rhianan Rudd was studying for her GCSEs at the time of her death

Some MI5 material relating to its involvement with a teenager who was charged with terrorism before taking her own life is being "withheld" from her inquest but is "not a cause for concern", a hearing was told.

Rhianan Rudd was the youngest person charged with terror offences in the UK when she was 15, before the prosecution was discontinued.

Five months after the charges were dropped, she was found dead at a children's home in Nottinghamshire on 19 May 2022, aged 16.

Rhianan, who was born in Essex but moved to Derbyshire in 2012, had been previously charged with downloading a bomb-making manual online and accused of plotting a terrorist attack.

A coroner previously heard police started investigating her in September 2020 after her mother, Emily Carter, referred her to the anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent.

Rhianan had been identified as a victim of grooming

In 2023, a BBC investigation revealed that evidence Rhianan had been groomed and sexually exploited was handed to MI5 months before she was charged with terrorism offences.

During Friday's hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice, chief coroner judge Alexia Durran was told there had been no public interest immunity (PII) applications submitted, which allows parties to withhold information that would be damaging if released.

Jesse Nicholls, representing Rhianan's family, said: "The open evidence we now have is a gist or a summary of the closed evidence.

"Importantly, the material has been withheld from the open summaries provided to the family and interested persons.

"The concern this gives rise to is a concern there's other material which should probably be subject to a PII application, but that is not being made based on the fact it is not relevant."

Anonymity granted

In written submissions, Mr Nicholls said Rhianan's family "have not seen the closed sensitive material" withheld by MI5, so could not assess its relevance to the inquest's scope.

Neil Sheldon KC, representing the Home Office and MI5, said: "The fact that we have got the decision we have reached is the result, as you know, of the rigorous and thorough process that you and your legal team have undertaken in reviewing in conjunction with MI5 the closed sensitive material.

"The fact we have reached a decision in which no application for PII is necessary is a reflection of the thoroughness and rigorousness of that process, not any deficiency.

"There is no cause for concern or alarm on the part of the family or anybody else."

Judge Durran granted anonymity in the inquest to a senior MI5 officer involved in Rhianan's case, provisionally called Witness A, on the basis that identifying them would put them and their family at serious risk.

The coroner said she is satisfied that the statement from Witness A contains a description of all MI5 material relevant to the scope of the inquest.

The full inquest into Rhianan's death will begin on 27 February at Chesterfield Coroner's Court and is expected to last three weeks.

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