Darlington boy youngest to be convicted of terror offence

The boy pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court

A schoolboy has become the youngest person in the UK to be convicted of terror offences.

At Westminster Magistrates' Court, the 14-year-old, who cannot be named, admitted three counts of possessing information useful to a terrorist.

The boy, from Darlington, was arrested in July last year when he was 13 as part of an investigation into extreme right-wing terrorism.

He was bailed and will be sentenced on 1 April at Newton Aycliffe Youth Court.

The teenager, who had been active on racist online forums, was charged last week with possessing information useful to a terrorist - namely manuals for making explosives - with the offences relating to a period on or before July 2021, when he was 13 or younger.

The investigation was carried out by Counter Terrorism Policing North East.

Until now the youngest British terror offender was a neo-Nazi from Cornwall who downloaded one of several terrorist manuals when he was 13 but he was two years older when he was arrested.

The youngest person convicted of planning a terrorist attack in the UK was a 16-year-old boy, also from County Durham.