Teachers dismissed schoolboy's Osama bin Laden phone screensaver because he ... trends now
Teachers did not report a Muslim convert to officials when they found a picture of Osama bin Laden as his phone background before the FBI caught him plotting a terror attack on the Isle of Wight music festival.
The teenager, now 16, was being closely monitored in late 2021 by five tutors at a specialist education provider.
However, one teacher dismissed the screensaver of the al-Qaeda leader when they saw it on his phone saying he 'was often trying to shock people with what he said'.
The same tutor also said the schoolboy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told him he had become involved in an online anti-gay group 'with Muslims in it' before his conversion.
Staff had considered referring him to the Government's Prevent anti-radicalisation programme but the teenager became angry when he heard about this, a trial heard.
Yesterday, he was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court to seven years in jail, with one year extended licences for preparing acts of terrorism, possession of a knife and disseminating terrorist publications.
A terrorist teenager who plotted an attack on the Isle of Wight music festival has a picture of Osama Bin Laden as his phone screensaver - but teachers did not report him to the authorities
The court heard the boy searched for knives, stab vests and pick-up trucks and researched the Isle of Wight event's security arrangements
After changing his plan to attack Isle of Wight Festival in June 2022, the boy allegedly drew up 'alternative targets for a knife attack'
The court heard the boy searched for knives, stab vests and pick-up trucks and researched the Isle of Wight event's security arrangements before abandoning the plan because he couldn't drive or find a vehicle.
He instead decided to 'slice' the throat of a teacher at his special educational unit who he believed had insulted Islam but was eventually arrested.
UK counter terrorism police became aware of the teenager as a result of information shared by the FBI from instant messaging platform Discord.
He was arrested on the day of his planned festival attack and found with a knife in his rucksack and notes saying farewell to his mother and grandmother and begging them to become Muslim.
A court heard that since his arrest, the youth - who cannot be named - has been involved in 18 separate offences of attacking staff at a detention centre and using makeshift weapons.
On March 9, following the end of his trial, police found graffiti about 'Islamic matters' on his cell wall at Feltham Young Offenders' Institution, the judge was told.
In one online exchange, the youth was warned by another user on Instagram: 'If they get your phone it's curtains' but boasted: 'Nah, even if I do get caught I'm 15 they will just tell me off and put me on some prevention course trust me.'
Sentencing him to seven years in youth custody, Mrs Justice McGowan said the youth was an 'isolated and troubled young man who looked for the fellowship and comfort of religious faith' and 'came to believe it was acceptable to kill those who insulted his faith.'
The rucksack which contained the knife, with stab marks, was seized by police after the teenager's plan for the atrocity was foiled
The by wrote to his mother saying that 'anything which happens did not be caused by you and what you limited me from doing'
The youth was found with a handwritten note titled 'To My Family' in the event anything happened to him, which said whatever he did would be 'driven by hatred of the 'kuffar'
She told him: 'You thought about killing two people who offended you and your religion - both those two people had tried to help you.'
The annual Isle of Wight music festival took place between June 16 and 19 2022 with an attendance of around 90,000.
In the days before, the boy made four searches for a 'fast lorry' and 21 for pickup trucks and Ford trucks.
He performed 21 searches for knives at Waitrose and B&Q and also looked for hunting knives and swords.
Another convert, aged 16 messaged the youth via Instagram on July 4, asking: 'I heard you were going to attack the festival, is this true?'
