Disturbing Case: 15-Year-Old Boy Builds Alarming Arsenal and Bomb Manuals After Being Lured by Online Bot

A schoolboy encouraged to commit terror attacks by Russian extremists after being recruited by an online bot is facing years in jail.

The 15-year-old built up a stash of weapons and terror material including bomb-making manuals, chemicals to make explosives, a crossbow and five knives.

The teen shared chilling images online

He also bought a GoPro camera so he could live stream an attack after joining a far-right terror group called The Base.

A court heard he was “building up to real life action” and had been researching addresses for synagogues on Maps.

He was eventually arrested at the remote cottage where he lived with his dad while wearing his school uniform.

discovered journal entries in which the teenager declared he wanted to launch an attack because he was being bullied at school and was hated by girl pupils.

Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC told crown court that he had “an arsenal worthy of any young right-wing terrorist” and his diary and social media messages were “filled with hate and .”

His disturbing behaviour began when he was just nine when he wore a Nazi cap.

By the age of 13 he was downloading videos of mass killings and was pictured giving a Nazi salute.

He told an online pal he hated black people and had “always admired Hitler.”

He never watched TV and spent hours in his bedroom online, watching videos and playing a computer game called Counter-Strike, in which players pretend to be terrorists.

He also became obsessed with mass killers, particularly those targeting schools and synagogues.

His activity escalated in August, 2024, when he exchanged messages on the Telegram app with a Russia-based neo-Nazi group, saying: “I want to be a part of a group that is active irl” [in real life].”

The lad tried to recruit others to join the banned organisation and put up recruitment posters in a market town, saying: “Save your race, join the Base.”

A Russian operative sent him daily messages urging him to take action, telling him: “We’re willing to help you in planning, organising.”

Cops found he had been recruited by a bot but they suspected Russians used AI to produce messages in English each day to inspire him to launch an attack.

The teenager, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was arrested in on February 20 last year and was found to have been part of 25 extreme right-wing online chat groups.

The arresting officer told the court that the schoolboy “put his head in his hands, bent over and shook his head.”

The teenager denied the charges and told the jury he was simply playing a racist “character” online in order to make friends.

He added: “It didn’t feel like real life, it was a completely different world. I didn’t really know how to stop. It felt exciting.”

But jurors did not believe he was playing a game and after a four-week trial convicted him of possession of terrorist documents, dissemination of terrorist documents and membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation.

The verdicts were returned earlier this month but could not be reported because the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a charge of preparing acts of .

The has now decided not to pursue a retrial in relation to that charge and the reporting restriction has been lifted, allowing the guilty verdicts to be reported.

He will be sentenced next month.

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “This case provides a stark reminder around the dangers of extreme content online.

“Possession of terrorist publications and sharing them with others is a serious offence and the impact of this is not restricted to online activity.

“All too often we see the real-world implications of individuals who have been influenced by such material.”

The Base is an international neo-Nazi group launched in America in 2018 by a former FBI employee who later emigrated to Russia.

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