Port Talbot teenager pleads guilty to five terrorist offences

A 17-year-old boy from Port Talbot has pleaded guilty to terrorist and criminal damage offences.

Appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday, he admitted five terrorism offences related to his activity online.

He was charged with three counts of disseminating terrorist material and two counts of possession of material likely to be of use to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

He was also charged with two counts of racially aggravated criminal damage to the Windrush Mural in Port Talbot and one count of homophobically aggravated criminal damage in Cardiff city centre.

The artwork in Port Talbot, celebrating the contribution of the Caribbean community, was vandalised in October just hours after being completed. It had swastikas sprayed onto it, along with white supremacist and racial slurs.

The mural depicts Donna Campbell, a much-loved nurse and daughter of the Windrush generation, who died during the pandemic, as well as her mum Lydia. It also has an image of a Welsh dragon and Jamaican flag merged together.

At the time, the people behind the mural said they would not be intimidated by the incident.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was bailed for a pre-sentence report and will be sentenced in August.

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