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© Greater
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A British teenager has
been jailed for life and will serve a minimum of eight years, after being found
guilty of plotting a massacre with bombs and semi-automatic weapons at his
former college. Liam
Lyburd, 19, admitted to nine charges of buying or making home-made explosives
and weapons, but denied eight further charges of intending to use them to
injure or kill.
Judge
Paul Sloan QC said during sentencing, he was in no doubt Lyburd would have
carried out the attack had he not been caught.
RT report continues:
Lyburd
was seen laughing during Friday’s hearing and showed no emotion as he was
sentenced and led away.
Sentencing
was delayed until September to allow time for a psychiatric report.
Psychiatric
reports produced since his arrest stated that despite having a personality
disorder Lyburd does not suffer from “acute mental illness” and never has,
although one found he had schizoid traits, the judge said.
Judge
Sloan told Lyburd: “Your personality disorders have no way impaired your
ability to know what you were doing.”
Police
were alerted to the planned crime in November 2014 by a Facebook friend who was
concerned about online posts in which Lyburd talked about launching a murderous
attack.
When
officers searched his room they found a Glock handgun, CS canisters, pipe bombs
and a “kill bag” containing globes, boots, overalls and a gas mask.
Lyburd
was hours away from carrying out a killing spree at Newcastle College, a
further education institution where 18,000 young people study, when he was
arrested.
A
jury found him guilty in July of eight counts of possessing weapons with intent
to endanger life.
During
their investigation, police discovered a deleted file on Lyburd’s computer in
which the disturbed teen wrote about his intention to take revenge against his
old college.
“You
people ruined my whole life, don’t expect me to show mercy today. No one
disrespects me and gets away with it,” he wrote.
“I’ll
teach you people a little lesson on respect with my 9mm jacketed hollow
points.”
“It’s
time for extreme civil disobedience. Fantasy will become reality today for
sure. Where the mind goes the body will follow and, yes, people will die,
there’s no question about that.”
Detectives
also found webcam pictures he took of himself dressed for combat, armed with a
Glock pistol and brandishing a knife.
During
the trial Lyburd was described as a recluse who retreated into an online world,
rarely leaving his bedroom.
The
teenager bought his weapons and bomb materials on the dark web using the
username “DonaldTrump.”
He
used various aliases in his online life, including the name Felix Burns, and
published a Facebook post showing admiration for Jaylen Fryberg – the US teenager
who shot five students, four fatally, at a high school in Washington state.
Detective
Superintendent George Duff, who led the investigation into Lyburd, said outside
the court the defendant is a “dangerous man.”
“Lyburd
is a dangerous man who intended to cause serious harm,” he said.
“He
at no point has shown any remorse for what he intended to do. By not admitting
his wrongdoing in the first instance shows the utter lack of consideration for
those he intended to harm. Thankfully the courts and the jury came to the best
decision and today Lyburd is behind bars where he belongs.
“His actions not only
caused threats to certain people but it also caused concern and disruption to
the local community and I would like to thank them for their cooperation throughout
the investigation. Community vigilance plays an important role in policing our
communities and we encourage anyone with concerns to contact police straight
away,” he added.
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