Teenager inspired by Southport killer who planned attack on Oasis concert sentenced

A teenager who was inspired by Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been sentenced after he planned an attack on an Oasis concert.

McKenzie Morgan, from the village of Llanfrechfa near Cwmbran in South Wales, can be named for the first time after he turned 18.

He has been detained for 14 months after admitting at the Old Bailey to possessing a document useful for terrorism.

Morgan had talked of emulating Axel Rudakubana who killed three girls aged six, seven and nine, during a knife attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class during the summer holidays in July 2024.

Morgan, who was aged 17 at the time and living with his parents, conducted research into obtaining large knives and, in a chat with a friend on April 19 last year, sent an image of a large knife for sale online saying, "would this work?".

Police found a note saved on the youth's phone on April 28 headed "places to attack".

It included images of the Dance Stars Academy near his home, along with directions on how to walk there, taking 31 minutes. Location data on his phone suggested that he had been close to the school a few days earlier.

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 July 4 in Cardiff.

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His Snapchat account used a misspelled version of Rudakubana's name and he had researched the killer, saving images of him with words added that mocked the victims.

He had participated in discussions with other teenagers on Snapchat in which he praised Rudakubana, who was also aged 17, and said he wanted to participate in a similar "terrorist-style" attack.

In one chat Morgan said he had tried to make ricin poison - the same substance manufactured by Rudakubana - although he later told police that was not true.

One of those he was talking to on Snapchat reported him to the police.

His family also became concerned and booked him in for an appointment with a counsellor on June 2, during which he said he planned to commit a "Rudakubana-style attack", leading to a second report to the police.

At around 10.30am the same day, following the appointment, he researched knives and transferred an al-Qaeda manual between phones.

Morgan was arrested the same day for making threats to kill and released on bail while his phone was examined.

He was re-arrested on June 19 and told police that he did not really mean what he was saying.

Interviewed by police, he said he was unhappy, had suicidal thoughts and thoughts of launching attacks on a regular basis but did not intend to carry them through.

He said he had failed to purchase a knife because he could not prove he was over 18 and his mother had hidden the kitchen knives.

Morgan is second teenager to face charges after trying to copy Rudakubana

He is the second teenager to face charges after seeking to copy the Southport killer.

Neither youth was charged with preparing a terrorist attack which would carry a potential life sentence for an adult and are instead charged with the lesser offence of possession of a document.

Earlier this month a 16-year-old teenager from Merseyside who planned to copy the Southport killer by attacking a Taylor Swift-themed event wearing a green hoodie pleaded guilty to terrorism charges.

He had visited Southport and taken pictures of the area, collected knives, researched a Taylor Swift-themed event and downloaded the same al-Qaeda manual used by Rudakubana to produce the poison ricin.

He was only arrested in August after making a 999 call to police to tell them what he was planning.

Morgan indicated a guilty plea to a single charge of possessing a document useful for terrorism at Westminster Magistrates' Court on June 21.

He accepts that he had a copy of the 188-page al-Qaeda Training Manual, the same document found in the possession of the Southport killer, on his phone.

He also had three similar documents of varying lengths which contained extracts of the same information, along with individual pages from the same document with instructions that included how to stab someone.

The documents, which had been accessed on numerous occasions, also included instructions on how to make explosives, a recipe for the poison ricin and details of how the terrorist group is structured.

Morgan told police he had only sent the messages because he was "bored" and was being bullied at school.

He added that he had sent the manual to other people online at random but had deleted his Snapchat account shortly before his arrest.

No winners from Morgan case say counter terror police

Sentencing Morgan on Friday, Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC imposed a criminal behaviour order to supervise him on his release from 14 months youth detention and a further year on licence.

She he was a danger to himself and "vulnerable to being bullied, groomed and radicalised".

Detective Superintendent Andrew Williams, from Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, said: "Mr Morgan was not born bad...

"As a teenager himself when he committed the offence, he was vulnerable to the malign influences that pray on our young people in today's online world.

"The fact that he was heavily influenced by the perpetrator of one of the most horrific attacks this country has seen in recent times, is a terrifying indictment of the abhorrent commentary, hateful opinion and violent imagery that too many of our young people are exposed to via the myriad of online sites, chat forums, and gaming and social media platforms."

He added: "There are no winners today, just a sense of sadness that highlights the need for us as a society to grip this issue and finally stop our young people being exploited in this way."

(c) Sky News 2026: Teenager inspired by Southport killer who planned attack on Oasis concert sentenced