A 14-year-old boy has been charged with a terrorism offence, as part of a Counter Terrorism Policing London investigation.
The teenager was arrested at an address in South London on Thursday 9th July. The initial arrest was on suspicion of criminal damage of a vehicle, which occurred on 20 June in the Sutton area.
A search of the address was carried out and after a number of documents of concern were found, the boy was rearrested suspicion of an offence under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 – preparation of terrorist acts – linked to extreme right-wing terrorism.
A warrant of further detention was obtained on Saturday, 11 July and the boy was subsequently charged with two offences: engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to an intention to conduct acts of terrorism contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act, 2006 and without lawful excuse damaging property belonging to another, intending to damage such property (a car window) and the offence was racially aggravated, contrary to section 30 of the Crime and Disorder Act, 1998.
The terrorism charge is in relation to an alleged plan to target two mosques in the Sutton area. These mosques have been contacted by police and offered advice and support.
Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of CTP London said: “This is a very serious terrorism charge against a young boy and likely to be highly concerning to the public and the local community. We know this will be particularly concerning to the Muslim community and we are working closely with the venues affected to ensure they are kept updated and to provide advice, support and reassurance, and this will continue.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Nick Blackburn, who is in charge of local policing for the south London area said: “We acknowledge that this will be concerning for the local Muslim community and have been working together with our local partners to provide reassurance and support and I would like to thank all those involved for their understanding.
"We should not underestimate the cumulative impact of incidents of this nature on the Muslim community. These charges come just days after 12 people were arrested for a suspected threat to an Islamic festival in Suffolk and a man was arrested for an alleged assault outside a mosque in Leyton.
“We have been working closely with our colleagues from Counter Terrorism Policing London throughout their investigation and we have increased patrols in the affected areas, which we will look to continue over coming days. As always, should anyone have any concerns, then they can contact us or their local police neighbourhoods team.”
