A teenager from South Wales has been sentenced after planning a terrorist-style attack inspired by Axel Rudakubana, the perpetrator of the Southport stabbings.
Disturbing Plans Uncovered
McKenzie Morgan, from Llanfrechfa near Cwmbran, was detained for 14 months after admitting at the Old Bailey to possessing a document useful for terrorism. The 18-year-old, who can now be named, had talked of emulating Rudakubana, who murdered three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July 2024.
Police found a note on Morgan's phone dated 28 April last year, headed "places to attack". It included images and directions to the Dance Stars Academy near his home. Location data suggested he had been near the school days earlier. His research into other targets was extensive.
"He had also researched other potential targets, including his own school, and told others on Snapchat of a plan to attack the first Oasis reunion concert on 4 July in Cardiff," the court heard.
Online Radicalisation and Intervention
Morgan's Snapchat account used a misspelled version of Rudakubana's name. He saved images of the killer with words mocking the victims and participated in discussions praising the 17-year-old attacker. In one chat, Morgan claimed he had tried to make ricin poison, the same substance manufactured by Rudakubana, though he later told police this was untrue.
His path was halted by a combination of vigilance. One of his Snapchat contacts reported him to police. Subsequently, his concerned family booked him a counselling appointment for 2 June. During that session, he stated he planned a "Rudakubana-style attack", leading to a second police report.
Alarmingly, later that same day, after the appointment, he researched knives and transferred an al-Qaeda manual between phones. He was arrested that day for making threats to kill.
Guilty Plea and Terror Manual Details
Morgan indicated a guilty plea to a single terrorism charge at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 21 June. He accepted possessing a copy of the 188-page al-Qaeda Training Manual, the same document found in the possession of the Southport killer.
The documents, accessed on numerous occasions, contained instructions on making explosives, a recipe for ricin poison, and details on terrorist group structures. Morgan told police he had sent the manual to others online at random but deleted his Snapchat account shortly before his arrest.
In police interviews, Morgan said he was unhappy, had suicidal thoughts, and regularly contemplated attacks but did not intend to carry them out. He claimed he failed to buy a large knife because he could not prove his age and said his mother had hidden the kitchen knives.
Morgan is the second teenager to face charges for seeking to copy the Southport killer. Both youths were charged with the lesser offence of possession of a document, not preparing a terrorist attack, which carries a potential life sentence for an adult.
