Missed opportunities to help girl charged with terrorism offences

An inquest has found there were missed opportunities to help a girl who died by suicide after she was charged with terrorism offences after being groomed.

16-year-old Rhianan Rudd was the youngest girl charged with terrorism offences in the UK, and was was investigated by MI5 after she downloaded a bomb-making manual. Charges were dropped after the Home Office found that she was a victim of exploitation.

The teenager dies by suicide at a children's home in May 2022.

The inquest found that there missed chances for the police and Derbyshire County Council to refer Rudd earlier for consideration as a potential victim of modern slavery.

Chief coroner Alexia Durran also found there a "systems failure" by counter-terror police and the county council.

The inquest also found that no organisation was to blame for her death and it was "necessary and appropriate" to investigate and prosecute the teenager for terrorism offences.

The inquest heard how an American neo-Nazi had groomed and sexually exploited Rudd online and that she became fixated with Hitler. It was also found that she had been influenced by her mother's former partner who had previously been in a white supremacist gang.

Rudd's own mother had referred her daughter to Prevent in September 2020.

Assistant Chief Constable Di Coulson, speaking on behalf of Counter Terrorism Policing in the East Midlands (CTPEM) and Derbyshire Constabulary, said: “On behalf of policing, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Rhianan’s family and loved ones for their terrible loss.

“This was a complex case involving a very vulnerable young person, who had been subjected to radicalisation.

“Rhianan’s tragic death was clearly devastating for her family. It was felt profoundly by the officers directly involved, but also across Counter Terrorism Policing as a whole.

“Rhianan’s case was a stark moment for our management of the growing numbers of children and young people in our casework – so often presenting vulnerability as well as risk and threat to the public.

“Since Rhianan’s death, we continue to work alongside our partners to evolve the way we approach cases involving children and, where feasible, attempt to rehabilitate and deradicalise, rather than investigate and convict.

“We welcome the findings of the Chief Coroner today, and while we have already made substantial improvements to the way we manage these cases, we will carefully review the findings and make any further changes in order to improve our protection of the public against terrorism.”