A judge has threatened to jail a 17-year-old extremist unless his family prove they are doing all they can to stop him from promoting jihad.
The teenager, from Ilford, east London, has admitted creating flyers and CDs which were found in prayer rooms in two of London’s biggest hospitals.
He was tracked down when a carrier bag containing flyers titled Become martyrs for the sake of Allah’ was left on the Hammersmith and City line in April.
After an investigation to find the owner of the bag – a man aged in his 50s – further extremist material was found in the prayer room at University College Hospital.
The teenager, from Ilford, east London, has admitted creating flyers and CDs which contained a series of lectures by banned hate preacher Anwar al-Awlaki (pictured)
The CDs were found to contain a series of lectures by banned hate preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric linked to al-Qaeda who was killed in a drone strike.
Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot said: ‘This boy is nearly 18. This is a very serious offence. I’m going to need to know all I can about the family.
‘If there’s no family stopping this from happening I’m going to lock him up, quite frankly.’
The owner of the bag was traced via CCTV and his travelcard to Royal London Hospital where a pile of CDs marked ‘Free. Take me’ were found in a cupboard in the prayer and contemplation room.
The youth was linked to the flyers and CDs using DNA evidence and his home was raided on October 11 last year.
Anwar Al-Awlaki was killed by a drone strike in Yemen in 2011
Police seized a number of disks identical to those found at the hospitals, as well as the computer used to manufacture the flyers.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court with his parents on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to two charges of encouraging and assisting the commission of a terrorist offence between December 2016 and October last year.
He further admitted one count of providing a service to assist an act of terrorism.
Adjourning sentencing until March 5, Judge Arbuthnot said to the defendant: ‘I need to work out what I’m going to do with your sentence.
‘I have to make sure that if I don’t lock you up there’s a very robust package of measures in place. If you were over 18 I would lock you up, no problem.’
She praised his parents for attending court, saying: ‘It’s the most difficult thing for the parents because obviously they are very worried about the child and often this comes from nowhere.’
The youth was granted bail on condition he live and sleep at his home address, surrenders his passport and reports to his local police station three times a week.