A teenager who became radicalised by Islamist propaganda online has been jailed for life after admitting a plot to carry out a terrorist attack against the British police or a military base.
Matthew King, 19, carried out surveillance at police stations, railway stations and an British Army barracks in London and admitted preparation of terrorist acts, alleged by the prosecution to be related to Islamist beliefs.
At a hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday, the Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft, KC, said he was aware of threats King had made while being held in prison.
Referring to prison intelligence, the judge said, “You’ve made violent threats to kill, behead, and chop up staff, have their loved ones followed home and beheaded, behead an imam and another prisoner.”
Lucraft set a minimum term of six years and said he believed King still posed a significant risk to the public and met the test for “dangerousness.”
Between Dec. 22, 2021, and May 17, 2022, King carried out surveillance at railway stations, police stations, Stratford Magistrates’ Court in east London, and an Army barracks in East Ham, also in east London.
King was arrested at his home in Wickford, Essex on May 18, 2022, by the Metropolitan Police, and his mobile phone was examined.
The court heard King—who had dabbled in drugs and been expelled from school—had changed his WhatsApp status to “kill the non-Muslims, wherever you see them.”
King had told a female friend online he wanted to travel to Syria and take part in violent jihad and wanted to become a martyr.
In one excerpt King said he was “training for jihad” and told her, “I just want to kill people.”
King Said He Wanted to Be a ‘Machine’
He said King had been overheard by a police officer, while in custody, telling his mother: “I’m going to find someone in prison to train me. I need to start to eat more protein. I need to start training offensive and defensive. When I get out I’m going to be offensive, I’m going to be a machine. I don’t care, in my eyes, I haven’t done anything wrong.”But the court also heard King later told his mother, in a phone call from prison, “I’m not extreme anymore.”
The judge said there were signs of “duplicity” in the fact that King often said one thing to fellow inmates and another to those who were assessing him.
Detectives found a photograph taken by King on his phone which showed police officers standing outside a court building and had the caption “target aquired [sic].”
King was also seen to conduct surveillance outside the 7th Battalion The Rifles in West Ham, east London.
But at an earlier hearing, prosecutor Gillian Curl said no “specific act of terrorism” had been identified.
She said, “He was preparing for an act against either serving on-duty police officers or military personnel.”
King’s barrister, Hossein Zahir, KC, said King was “immature” and the chances of him having carried out a terrorist attack in Britain were “remote.”
Zahir said King had talked of “beheading an imam” while he was in custody but the lawyer said the remark was made out of frustration at his cell door being closed and was not a genuine threat.
Zahir said there had been some incidents of “offensive and abusive” behaviour while he had been in prison but he said his client was “slowly and steadily” disengaging from Islamic extremism.
The authorities became aware of King after a tip-off was received through the anti-terrorist hotline and the Prevent counter-terrorism programme.
Commander Dominic Murphy, from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “King was a committed, self-initiated terrorist who we believe was close to carrying out an attack. He will now spend a long time in jail, where he doesn’t pose a risk to the public.”
“It is notable that this investigation started as a direct result of calls to police from members of the public who were concerned about King’s extremist mindset, and this case is a powerful example of how vitally important information from the public is to counter-terrorism investigations,” he added.
Murphy also said, “The speed at which King self-radicalised and then began to start planning an attack was alarming, and the calls made to us from members of the public about King led directly to police stopping him committing a deadly attack.”
Passing sentence, Judge Lucraft said: “I am of the view that there must in this case be a discretionary life sentence and that is the sentence I impose upon you. There will be a sentence of custody for life.”
He sentenced King to a minimum of 9 years. It was further reduced to 6 years because King got credit for pleading guilty.
