One in five counter-terrorism cases now involves children, police have warned, as the case of a teenager who plotted a mass gun attack laid bare the ease with which youngsters can fall into extremism online.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of operations for the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said the force was “seeing younger and younger individuals getting radicalised online” and that horrific material was available to children in “a couple of clicks”. The warning came as Alfie Coleman, now 21, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of preparing acts of terrorism following a retrial.
Coleman’s path from a 14-year-old searching the open web to an armed plotter stopped by armed police in a supermarket car park illustrates a pattern that Flanagan said was becoming alarmingly common. She noted that referrals to Prevent – the multi-agency programme designed to stop individuals becoming terrorists – were rising at younger ages.
“One click, two clicks to find material,” she said. “It is there available – and available to all our children.”
From online obsession to armed plot
Coleman, then aged 14, began trawling the internet for extreme right-wing material. In November 2020, when he was 16, he downloaded a neo-Nazi text on his iPad. Over the following years, he accessed manifestos from mass killers such as Anders Breivik, Dylann Roof and Brenton Tarrant – individuals he held up as “warriors” and “saints”. He penned his own manifesto in a diary, listing grievances and identifying potential targets including the Lord Mayor of London and a mosque.
His radicalisation, which spanned around five years, drew on white supremacist and neo-Nazi ideology. He idolised Thomas Mair, the far-right extremist who murdered MP Jo Cox. Coleman compiled a “hate list” of colleagues and customers, branding a white female co-worker with racial slurs because her husband was of mixed Indian and Seychellois heritage, and noted vehicle number plates with offensive language.
Authorities first grew concerned in the summer of 2023 when his activity on online extreme right-wing groups intensified. In early September 2023, Coleman attempted to buy a Skorpion automatic weapon, an AK47 rifle and bullets in France, having identified a local mosque as his target. He abandoned that plan quickly.
Instead, MI5 and Counter Terrorism Policing London ran a “highly sophisticated operation”. Undercover operatives engaged with Coleman on encrypted platforms, posing as individuals sympathetic to his views, and eventually agreed to sell him a firearm. The sting culminated on the morning of September 29, 2023, in a Morrisons car park in Stratford, east London.
Dramatic video shown to jurors captured Coleman dropping £3,500 in a Land Rover Discovery and picking up a holdall containing a Makarov pistol, five magazines and 200 rounds of ammunition. Before he had gone 30 yards, carrying his Tesco employee card, he was confronted by armed counter-terrorism police and forced to the ground.
A search of the home he shared with his parents and sibling uncovered an arsenal of extremist memorabilia: a rock painted with a Swastika, a Black Sun flag, extreme right-wing books, multiple knives, a small stone axe, an air rifle, a bug-detection device, and £2,500 in savings. He had also ordered a Gerber Strong Arm knife online. His diary revealed not only the mosque plot but also ideas of hijacking a plane, placing explosives in a cash machine, and using knives and crossbows.
Coleman pleaded guilty to possessing ten documents useful to terrorists and attempting to possess a firearm and ammunition, but was convicted after a retrial of preparing acts of terrorism. He was remanded into custody to be sentenced on July 8.
‘With a couple of clicks’ – the accessibility of extremist content
Flanagan stressed that the material radicalising children is not hidden away on the dark web. “I think the perception is that it’s on the dark web and your children aren’t going to be exposed to that, but it’s not, it’s on the open web,” she said. “With a couple of clicks, you can certainly start to see some of that horrific material. And the more you see, obviously with algorithms, the more you’re getting exposed to.”
The accessibility of mass-killer manifestos remains an “ongoing challenge” for police, she added. Breivik’s 1,518-page document, “2083 – A European Declaration of Independence”, has been described as a “baton in a relay race of extremists”. Roof’s manifesto outlined white nationalist ideology, while Tarrant’s “The Great Replacement” was emailed to recipients – including the prime minister’s office – minutes before the Christchurch attacks.
Coleman read these writings and created his own. “It’s clearly concerning that we have got individuals that are influenced online and hold these people in such high regard,” Flanagan said.
The weapons involved in the plot highlight the legal barriers that exist, yet the case shows how determined individuals can still connect with suppliers. AK47s are heavily controlled in the UK: possessing a semi-automatic rifle in a calibre larger than .22 LR requires special permission from the Home Secretary, effectively banning them for most civilians. Handguns are similarly restricted, with most prohibited under Section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968. Despite this, Coleman attempted to buy both an AK47 and a Skorpion in France, and eventually obtained a Makarov pistol through an undercover officer.
Flanagan urged parents and carers to take “basic steps” and initiate conversations with their children. “It’s about understanding what your children are doing and really trying to be quite intrusive with them around what they’ve been exposed to.”
Coleman himself has described feeling lonely and suffering from mental health issues during the Covid-19 lockdowns, spending hours playing video games and viewing conspiracy theories online. He had previously struggled with his mental health and declined counselling. He was employed by Tesco at the time of his arrest, and his employee card was found on him when he was detained.
