Terrorism-accused boy 'was beaten at home'

The boy filled bottles with shrapnel including foil balls and rusty screws, the court heard

A 15-year-old boy accused of planning a terrorist attack during lockdown has told a court his stepfather used to beat him with a belt.

The defendant, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, developed "extremist and radical" views after a troubled home life, Leicester Crown Court heard.

The boy, who was 14 when he was arrested, is the youngest person in the UK to be charged with a terror offence.

He denies one count of preparing acts of terrorism.

During his testimony the boy, who cannot be named because of his age, showed signs of distress on the witness stand.

He told the court he was in foster care when he was very young and when he returned to the family home his mother's new partner started to abuse him.

He told the jury: "He would hit me with a belt… multiple times… on a daily basis, as a form of discipline."

A shoebox shown to the jury included a copy of the Koran, a prayer cap and bottles

The boy said said his stepfather would "yell at me and push me to the ground", making him feel "scared and upset".

He described how the man threatened him with hand gestures, showing the jury by making his hand into the shape of a gun and pointing it at them.

His mother and stepfather argued and he and his mother fled twice to a refuge, the boy told the court.

When he moved with his mother to a new home in Eastleigh he said he was "anxious" and his mother was "stressed".

He said: "It wasn't good... it was very untidy and I didn't have the things I needed."

The defendant had to sit down to compose himself during his testimony, with his barrister subsequently asking for a break.

The teenager denied he was a terrorist at the Leicester Crown Court trial

During further evidence the teenager, who is alleged to have made experimental home-made bottle-bombs, said he often came home from school to an empty home, would go straight to sleep and then wake up late at night.

He said he did not have a correct school uniform and "sometimes I wouldn't have shoes and I had dirty clothes".

He was "too embarrassed" to ask friends home because of the "smell of urine" and the "untidiness of the house".

The boy denied being a terrorist or planning to build a bomb.

A video extract from the game Grand Theft Auto which the teenager had edited and added terrorist-related music, images and sounds to was played to the court.

He told the jury it was intended for his social media account but he realised it was not funny and so did not upload it.

Another video of him saying "I am a martyr, of just squashed tomatoes" was inspired by a funny scene from the film Four Lions, he said.

The boy admitted making online searches about guns, knives, and bombs, but said documentaries on war and on ISIS had made him want to find out more, as he enjoyed studying the history of war.

He said he put a chest rig tactical vest, boxes of matches and igniter cord on his mother's Amazon Saved List to annoy her, and was just pretending to build a bomb.

The trial continues.