Paul Dunleavy, 17, kept a haul of knives, shotgun cartridges, bullet casings and air rifles in his bedroom, plus face coverings and camouflage face paint and makeshift targets.
The ex-Royal Air Cadet, who can be named for the first time following a court ruling, had researched how to transform a blank firing gun into a live weapon.
On Friday Dunleavy, of Rugby, Warwickshire was jailed for five and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court. He admitted nine counts of collecting terrorism information under section 58 of the Terrorism Act.
Last month a jury also found him guilty of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorism under section 5 of the Terrorism Act.
The court heard how police found a notebook containing swastikas, details of lone-wolf attacks and mock-up logo representing an extreme-right group he wanted to form.
There were also numerous tools, camping gear and makeshift cardboard targets.
Officers said he said his idols were Adolf Hitler and influential neo-Nazi James Mason.
They further discovered more than 90 documents on his mobile phone on firearms, explosives and military tactics, plus online material with extreme right-wing rhetoric as well as online chat discussions.
Police also found phone video clips of the New Zealand attacks in Christchurch mosques in 2019 and the Anders Breivik terror attack in Norway.
Dunleavy had become a member of the online extreme right-wing group Feuerkrieg Division (FKD) in July last year and in a string of online discussions, he voiced radical ideas and indicated he was planning to convert a blank-firing weapon to fire live bullets.
The head of West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit Detective Chief Superintendent Kenny Bell said that the boy had an unhealthy interest in other aggression across the world and he knew precisely what online platforms to join to communicate his radical views and that he thought he had the skills to transform a blank-firing weapon into a possible firearm and was keen to help others with his abilities.
Detective Chief Kenny Bell highlighted the commitment by counter-terrorism policing to tackle all forms of extremist ideology and he added that they’ve seen numerous convictions over the last few years in connection with extreme right-wing terrorism and that this work continues apace and that these extremist groups have the potential to endanger public safety and security.
This should be extremely alarming because this boy was an ex-Royal Air Cadet and it doesn’t seem that they’re screened before enrolling, or do they get radicalised later on? And if this is happening then they need to find out who they are, where they come from and especially how this corruption took place.
The problem is this is the United Kingdom and being a cadet isn’t part of the army – it’s basically an after school club where all children are allowed to join from all different walks of life and there is clearly something wrong if a person goes fanatical over something, no matter their ethnicity or religion.
This lad has clearly taken the wrong steps in life and we as a society have failed him by not playing a positive part in his upbringing and this isn’t the first time someone with military ties has been caught like this and there should be serious concerns that right-wing elements are inside a military organisation.
These kids either have some form of mental health problem or they’re being brainwashed, and if they’re being brainwashed, then we need to get to the bottom of who is doing the brainwashing.
