Would-be terrorist who was urged to behead police officer by Blackburn boy pleads guilty

Police in Melbourne swooped to arrest 18-year-old Sevdet Besim in March, 2015 after a 14-year-old, who had threatened to kill his teachers, was arrested in Blackburn.

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Further investigations uncovered a hoard of extremist materials, including messages he had shared with Besim, urging him to run a cop over at the Anzac Day Parade in Melbourne the following month.

Besim was detained after the information was shared by the North West Counter Terrorism Unit with their counterparts in the Australian state of Victoria.

At the Supreme Court in Victoria he pleaded guilty to preparing for a terrorist act and was remanded for sentence until August 1.

The boy, who was schooled in Blackburn and Burnley but cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a life sentence, initially to be served in youth custody, with a recommendation he serve at least five years, for an incitement charge.

Prosecutors in Melbourne said when Besim was arrested police searched a nearby car and found a large knife.

Det Chief Supt Tony Mole, from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “After the information was discovered on the boy’s phone, it was clear that he was encouraging another person to commit an act of terr- or.

“A swift investigation was launched and we, alongside the relevant authorities in the UK and Australia, acted quickly and Sevdet Besim was arrested before any lives could be put in danger.”

The boy was arrested after he told a teaching assistant how he wanted to stab him in the neck with his pencil and kill him like halal. He later indicated this meant he wanted to slit his throat and watch him bleed to death.

He told another teacher that he was “on my beheading list”. The youngster had already been referred to Channel, the government counter-extremism programme. The screensaver on his mobile phone was the IS flag and he had images of beheadings saved on the device.