Isle of Wight Festival attack plot teen spared increased sentence

A teenage Muslim convert who was detained for plotting an attack on the Isle of Wight Festival has been spared an increased sentence after assaulting detention staff.

At the time, the 16-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, had been charged under the Terrorism Act.

While remanded in custody, he attacked staff and emergency workers.

After pleading guilty, he was given a 12-month detention and training order (DTO) to run alongside his sentence.

The teenager, from Cowes, admitted four counts of common assault, six counts of assault on an emergency worker and eight counts of possession of an offensive weapon at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday.

'Planned and targeted'

The court heard how, while detained at a secure children's home at the beginning of June 2023, he assaulted two custodial workers.

He smashed a plastic jug and managed to conceal pieces of it, despite being patted down and having his room searched.

The youth then used these shards to threaten and assault custodial staff, with one suffering cuts to their hand, elbow and finger.

After these incidents, on 14 June, the decision was made to move him to a detention centre, the court was told.

He went on to make and use more improvised weapons to assault and threaten custodial staff between June and December 2023.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said the scope of the "planned and targeted" attacks meant some form of punishment was necessary to "mark their seriousness" and to act as a deterrent.

Addressing the defendant, he said: "You are so young that you will spend a significant part of your most important years in custody.

"Welfare dictates that I give you some light at the end of the tunnel - in other words, some focus in rehabilitation."

He had been sentenced earlier this month to seven years in detention after jurors at Kingston Crown Court found him guilty of terrorism offences, according to Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE).

The court heard the youth, who was 15 at the time, researched the Isle of Wight Festival as a potential attack target, looked up weapons, vehicles and stab vests and had obtained a knife by July 2022.

His plans were eventually foiled by the FBI, who alerted UK counter-terror police to a user of the messaging app Discord who was plotting an attack on 11 July 2022.

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