A BOY of 14 set up extremist right-wing group The British Hand which included a member who plotted a terror attack.

The teen, now 16, ran it on the encrypted Telegram app, where vetted members talked about weapons and “doing something” against ethnic minorities, Westminster JPs heard.

Group member Matthew Cronjager, 18, was found guilty at the Old Bailey last week of plotting a terror attack. The neo-Nazi, of Ingatestone, Essex,  is facing a jail sentence in “double figures”.

The two cases can be linked after restrictions were lifted yesterday.

The 16-year-old, from Derbyshire, pleaded guilty in June to encouraging terrorism. He was given a two-year youth referral order and a three-year criminal behaviour order.

In 2019 he got a caution for sending pictures of bombs to a  pupil over Snapchat. 

Mark Luckett, defending, previously said the teen has autism spectrum disorder. He said: “In lockdown he appears to have spent a concerning amount of time online, which has led him down a very dark rabbit hole.” 

Another 16-year-old boy in the chat group admitted disseminating a terrorist publication and was given a 12-month referral order.

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