Judge warning after Ilford teenager admits terror offences
A judge has threatened to jail a teenager for terror offences unless his family show they are doing everything possible to stop him reoffending.
The 17-year-old boy, from Ilford, admitted creating flyers and CDs promoting jihad which were found in the prayer rooms of two London hospitals.
He pleaded guilty to three offences when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
Adjourning sentencing, the judge said the offences were "very serious".
"I'm going to need to know all I can about the family," Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot said.
The defendant was caught after a carrier bag containing flyers titled "Go my Muslim brothers and fight for the mujahideen in Chechnya and become martyrs for the sake of Allah" was left on a Tube train in April 2017.
The owner of the bag was traced using CCTV and his travel card to Royal London Hospital, where a pile of CDs featuring banned hate preacher Anwar al-Awlaki were found in a cupboard.
Further extremist material was also discovered in the prayer room at University College Hospital.
Police carried out a raid at the teenager's home after DNA evidence linked him to the items and found more disks and the computer used to create the flyers.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of encouraging and assisting the commission of a terrorist offence between December 2016 and October 2017, and one count of providing a service to assist an act of terrorism.
Setting sentencing for 5 March, Judge Arbuthnot said had the boy been over 18 "I would lock you up".
"I have to make sure that if I don't lock you up there's a very robust package of measures in place."
The youth was granted bail on condition he live and sleep at his home address, surrender his passport and report to police three times a week.