Teenager accused of joining neo-Nazi group ‘advised about gun that could smash heads’

A teenager accused of preparing acts of terror joined a neo-Nazi group by expressing hatred for Jews and discussed making ammunition that could “smash heads”, a court has heard.

The 17-year-old male, from Rugby in Warwickshire, joined the Feuerkrieg Division (FKD) in 2019, jurors at Birmingham Crown Court were told.

The defendant denies a single count of preparation of terrorist acts between April and September last year.

The boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – asked a friend where he could buy a blank-firing gun, prosecutor Matthew Brook said.

Brook told jurors that online discussions on neo-Nazi chatrooms showed the teenager offering “concrete, practical advice about making ammunition that will ‘smash heads’.”

The teenager is alleged to have referenced converting a blank-firing gun, and jurors heard that he claimed the adjustment would allow the weapon to fire a steel ball.

In another online exchange read to the jury, the youth is alleged to have said: “I’m getting armed and getting in shape. I’d urge everyone to do the same.”

Brook told the jury: “This is a conversation between members of an extreme right-wing group.

“A group that believes violence – and in particular mass shootings – are good and will bring about a breakdown in society which will give them the opportunity to achieve their fascist aims.

“The prosecution say that even before joining FKD, the defendant was interested in whether this was a serious group that could be involved in physical action in the real world, rather than being in his words ‘just an online thing’.”

During an online test to determine if he was “worthy” of joining the FKD, the teenager defined fascism as “the pursuit of restoring the natural order”, said he wanted to provoke a race war, and described Jews as “a parasite which must be eradicated”, the prosecutor told the trial.

After the test, the boy was admitted to two private chat groups for UK-based extremists, the court heard.

Previously, jurors were told the teen became “radicalised so he fully believed in extreme right-wing ideology... the twisted ideology of Nazis and white supremacy”, and that he praised terrorists like the Christchurch gunman.

Jurors were told he exchanged messages in extreme-right chat groups, claiming he was an administrator for a group called “League of Nationalists” and wanted a “local unit”.

The trial continues.