UK's youngest terrorist plotter sent back to prison

Radicalised teenager known as 'RXG' tried to organise beheading attack in Australia

RXG plotted with Sevdet Besim, pictured, to carry out a terror attack in 2014.

Britain’s youngest terrorist plotter is back in prison after breaking his parole conditions by owning a smartphone.

Known by the codename RXG in court documents, he was 14 years old when he tried to organise the beheading of police officers in Australia after being radicalised by ISIS recruiters online.

Now in his early 20s, he had been freed on probation but is believed to have been arrested last month after breaching the terms of his release.

Security sources told the PA news agency the breach was linked to his possession of an internet-enabled device.

“Protecting the public is our number one priority so when offenders breach the conditions of their release and potentially pose an increased risk we don’t hesitate to return them to custody,” said a Probation Service spokesman.

It was not suggested that RXG, whose real name cannot be published due to an anonymity order, had committed further offences.

He pleaded guilty in 2015 to inciting terrorism overseas by plotting with an Australian extremist, Sevdet Besim, to arrange an attack on an Anzac Day remembrance parade in Melbourne.

The plot, described by British officials as being intended to promote ISIS, would have involved beheading police officers at the parade.

No such attack ever took place after Australian federal police were alerted to the plot and made numerous arrests.

RXG, described by the High Court in London as the youngest terrorist offender on record, was given a life sentence with a minimum of five years in custody.

The sentencing judge said the teenager had been groomed by experienced ISIS recruiters who succeeded in turning him into a committed Islamic extremist.

“One professional who dealt with him had never encountered such entrenched extremist views,” the judge said at the time.

In 2019, RXG won a rare lifetime anonymity order after a different judge ruled naming him would “fundamentally undermine” his rehabilitation.

He was still in custody at that time and his lawyers said he had made good progress with therapy and rehabilitation.

The judge, Dame Victoria Sharp, said RXG’s case was an exceptional one and he was vulnerable to potential re-radicalisation if not properly looked after.