ABSTRACT
A teenager described as ‘Britain’s youngest convicted terrorist’ was arrested in April 2015 when he was only 14 years of age (Connors, BBC News, 2015). The boy was arrested for threatening to behead his teachers, but it soon emerged that he was directing a plot to massacre veterans at an Anzac Day parade in Melbourne, Australia. Although 14 is alarmingly young to be involved in such activities, this story is only one of many involving teenagers who have been arrested for terrorism-related activities. In February 2016, The Guardian ran a story about two girls, aged 15 and 17, who were arrested in Paris for criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist enterprise (The Guardian online, March 2016). They were suspected of plotting an attack against a concert hall. In February 2016, a teenager was stopped at Sydney Airport trying to fly to Syria, allegedly to join the Islamic State. The Sydney Morning Herald described how he was arrested for allegedly planning a terrorist attack in Sydney and th at he was being investigated for allegedly preaching extremism on the playground (Olding, 2016).
