UK Teen Sentenced for Terror Manual Possession

A British teenager inspired by the Southport knife attack that killed three young girls was sentenced to 14 months in youth detention on Friday for possessing a document useful to terrorism. McKenzie Morgan, 18, from Cwmbran in South Wales, pleaded guilty to the charge after admitting he had downloaded an al Qaeda training manual and expressed plans to emulate the 2024 attack by targeting a local dance academy and an Oasis reunion concert in Cardiff.

The Old Bailey court heard that Morgan, who was 17 at the time of the offenses, shared images of Axel Rudakubana, the 18-year-old convicted of murdering the three girls and injuring others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, on July 29, 2024. Rudakubana, also 17 during the attack, received a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years in January 2025. Between April 7 and June 2, 2024, Morgan used Snapchat to praise Rudakubana and discuss carrying out a similar assault, including attempts to produce the poison ricin, which Rudakubana had also tried to make.

Prosecutor Corinne Bramwell detailed how Morgan messaged contacts about his intentions, stating, "In my head I now have the motivation to go ahead...