Teenage Islamic State fanatic reported to police by his mum is jailed for life over soldier plots

A teenage terrorist who wanted to "torture, mutilate and kill" soldiers in the name of Islamic State has been jailed.

Matthew King, who was radicalised online during the pandemic, staked out a British Army barracks in east London and filmed surveillance videos as he plotted attacks on military personnel and police officers.

The 19-year-old discussed his plans with an online girlfriend but was scuppered when his mother noticed a change in his behaviour and reported him to police, the Old Bailey heard.

In January, he admitted to preparing terrorist acts between December 2021 and May 2022, and on Friday was jailed for life.

He must serve a minimum of six years before he can be considered for parole.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC said in sentencing he had considered the "concerning" level of risk King posed to the public.

While in custody, King had made a violent threats to "behead an imam" and "kill and chop up staff", the Old Bailey was told.

The court heard before he was arrested he had discussed his plans and shared a "gory fantasy" with the online girlfriend with whom he struck up an adolescent flirtation.

His desires to launch an attack in Britain or travel to Syria to join so-called Islamic State were thwarted when his mother reported him to the Prevent counter-terrorism programme.

• Videos recovered by detectives showed how King had carried out surveillance

Judge Lucraft praised King's mother, saying: "She took the very bold step of alerting Prevent when she had concerns for her son. That cannot have been an easy thing to do in the first place and in my view she absolutely the right thing."

Authorities were also tipped off through an anti-terrorist hotline after he posted a video on a WhatsApp group on 13 April last year.

After the sentencing, Scotland Yard described King as a “committed, self-initiated terrorist” who was “self-radicalised” online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said: “We had seen an escalation in Matthew King’s behaviour, in his reconnaissance, in his online activity.

“I genuinely believe this was an imminent terrorist attack. Without the public’s help and without the efficient investigation of my officers, officers from the eastern region and members of the intelligence community, we wouldn’t have been able to disrupt what, for me, was an imminent attack.”

Setting out the facts at a previous hearing, prosecutor Paul Jarvis had described how King had developed an “entrenched Islamist extremist mindset”.

In his early teens, King “dabbled with drugs” and was expelled from school after becoming aggressive, eventually leaving education entirely at the age of 16.

Around 2020, he became interested in Islam, began to attend mosques and watched Muslim videos on YouTube.

By May 2021, his family noticed he had become more extreme and his mother became concerned he was watching material online promoting hatred, Mr Jarvis said.

He spoke of wanting to get his hands on an American or British Marine and told the girl: “I just wanna die a martyr."

When the girl appeared to support and encourage him, King responded: “I guess jihadi love is powerful. I just want to kill people.”

As part of his terror attack planning, King had set up an online account with an knife retailer, searched for IS tactical training videos in the use of knives and bought “tactical gloves” and goggles.

On one occasion, he went into his sister’s bedroom dressed up in his combat outfit and asked if she liked his clothes.

King was arrested at his home on 18 May last year by officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command.

He described his former Islamic name as “Abdul Kalashnikov” and told police: “The only thing which is black and white is the sharia, the law of Allah.”

King’s barrister told the court that more recent conversations with his supportive family showed signs the defendant was turning away from his radical beliefs

In mitigation, his barrister Hossein Zahir KC said King was “immature” and the prospect he would have carried out a terror attack in the UK or travelled to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State was “remote”.

While in custody, King had made a comment about “beheading an imam” but that was said out of frustration at his cell door being closed rather than as a genuine threat, Mr Zahir said.

The barrister argued that despite such incidents of “offensive and abusive” behaviour, King was “slowly and steadily” disengaging from the excesses of extremism.

And in a prison phone call, King told his mother: “I’m not extreme anymore.”

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