https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/02/terror-plotting-essex-teenager-matthew-king-jailed
A teenager who staked out British soldiers and police officers in preparation for a terror attack has been jailed for life after his mother took what a judge has described as the “bold step” to report him.
Matthew King, 19, who wanted to travel to Syria to join Islamic State, expressed a desire online to kill a British Marine and had made a series of videos of potential targets outside an army barracks, a magistrates court and railway station.
He had discussed his murderous plans online with a young woman – identified in court only as Miss A – but Judge Mark Lucraft KC praised King’s mother in his sentencing remarks for acting on growing concerns about her son’s behaviour….
King’s defence had claimed the chances of the teenager’s plans coming to fruition were remote but Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said officers had believed an attack was imminent….
By May 2021, his family had noticed he had become more extreme. In discussions online during the pandemic lockdowns, he had talked of wanting to get his hands on a US or British Marine. “I just wanna die a martyr,” he had told Miss A.
A teenager who staked out British soldiers and police officers in preparation for a terror attack has been jailed for life after his mother took what a judge has described as the “bold step” to report him.
Matthew King, 19, who wanted to travel to Syria to join Islamic State, expressed a desire online to kill a British Marine and had made a series of videos of potential targets outside an army barracks, a magistrates court and railway station.
He had discussed his murderous plans online with a young woman – identified in court only as Miss A – but Judge Mark Lucraft KC praised King’s mother in his sentencing remarks for acting on growing concerns about her son’s behaviour….
King’s defence had claimed the chances of the teenager’s plans coming to fruition were remote but Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said officers had believed an attack was imminent….
By May 2021, his family had noticed he had become more extreme. In discussions online during the pandemic lockdowns, he had talked of wanting to get his hands on a US or British Marine. “I just wanna die a martyr,” he had told Miss A.
