Boy, 14, in court on terrorism charges

A 14-year-old British boy accused of encouraging a man in Australia to carry out a terrorist beheading and attack a war remembrance event has appeared in court.

The boy, thought to be the youngest person charged with Islamist-related terror offences in the UK, was arrested last weekend.

He was remanded in custody to youth detention accommodation by District Judge Emma Arbuthnot at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.

The boy, from Blackburn, Lancashire,was charged with two counts of inciting terrorism overseas. Between March 15 and 26 he is said to have incited another person to “carry out an attack at an Anzac parade in Australia with the aim of killing and/or causing serious injury to people”.

It is alleged he encouraged an 18-year-old to target police at a Melbourne parade. It is also said that on March 18 he incited the man to behead a member of the public in Australia.

At the Old Bailey, the case was adjourned until May 14.