A 14-year-old boy from Nottingham who downloaded a bomb-making video they found on TikTok and vandalised his neighbour’s fence with racist graffiti avoided prison.
He appeared at Nottingham Justice Centre last week (28 August) and received a three-year youth rehabilitation order with electronic monitoring.
Counter-terror police arrested the boy in January 2026, following concerns that he carried a knife. Officers located the knife in his bedroom, resulting in a nine-month referral order for possession of that offensive weapon.
During the trial, it emerged that the TikTok video, downloaded to their phone, discussed how to create a bomb with household materials, a Section 58 offence under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The prosecution, citing an expert witness, outlined how the video did not provide “detailed instructions,” adding that officers found no chemicals at their home during their search, The Independent noted.
He targeted a neighbour with racist graffiti, daubing a Nazi swastika, a racial slur, and a reference to the Christchurch terrorist on their garden fence last year, which left the woman (who lives alone) scared and fearful. In her victim impact statement, read aloud in court, she said: “It felt like a personal attack on me, a woman of colour who lives alone.”
Tell MAMA continues to monitor and report on the disturbing, lingering influence of the Christchurch terrorist on social media and amongst individuals convicted of far-right terror offences after the fact, including young men.
The judge, however, believed the offending occurred from a desire to “fit in” and not from an ideological extremist mindset, the BBC reported.
Other factors the judge cited included the boy’s engagement with Prevent, whilst they considered his age, maturity, and the nature of the harmful content they consumed online, and the influence of others.
He told the boy: “I’m placing some trust in you – please repay it by staying out of trouble and doing as you are asked.”
Responding to the verdict, Detective Inspector Steve Shaw, who was Senior Investigating Officer in the case, said in a statement: “It is worrying to think a person of such a young age could display these concerning thoughts and behaviours.
“Going from owning weapons, to spray-painting graffiti, to downloading a bomb-making tutorial, shows how his behaviour was escalating, which is why we stepped in and charged him when we did.
“I’d encourage all parents to check they know what their child is doing online. Know what kind of things they are reading and watching, who they are talking to, and what sites they are visiting.”