British teenager 'soldier of IS' found guilty of planning attack on Bieber concert

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A British teenager who identified as an Islamic State (IS) soldier was on Monday found guilty of planning an attack on a Justin Bieber concert and a shopping mall.

A “martyrdom letter” found in his room—along with a hammer and a large knife—read that he was ready “to serve as an IS soldier.”

The 17-year-old detainee’s name was withheld for legal reasons.

He admitted to the letter and the items found in his room but denied he intended to harm anyone. He will be sentenced in January.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said he was planning an attack of a similar type to the one near Britain’s Parliament in March, where a man in a van drove into pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge before stabbing a policeman.

“This teenager’s behavior over many months leaves no doubt that he intended to kill and maim as many people as possible in an attack reminiscent of the incident on Westminster Bridge,” Sue Hemming, head of the special crime and counter-terrorism division at the CPS, said.

“He was also posting extremist content online that could have encouraged others to commit terrorist acts, and downloading instructions on how to carry out ‘lone wolf’ attacks,” she added.

The Westminster attack was one of five major attacks this year that British authorities are treating as a terrorist incident.

Five people, including a policeman and the attacker, Khalid Masood, died in the Westminster incident.

The CPS said the Welsh schoolboy had posted IS propaganda on his Instagram account, and his Instagram password was “Truck Attack.”

He had also reportedly researched possible targets including the Cardiff Castle, a theater, a library, a shopping center, and the Bieber gig, which took place in June.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany