A satanist teenager from Gloucestershire who had downloaded 11 different terrorist manuals has escaped a jail sentence after the judge heard he was on course to get straight As in his A-levels.

Bristol Youth Court was told the neo-Nazi teenager, who cannot be named, plans to study at Bristol University and will need straight As to get in.

Stephen Donnelly, defending, said the 17-year-old was “still on course to achieve high grades if allowed to complete his A-level studies next year”.

The judge was handed letters from both parents, from his head of year at school and an academic progress report.

District Judge Paul Goldspring told the youth he had planned to sentence him to 12 months in custody but had changed his mind.

“You clearly work very hard in school and are obviously very, very intelligent,” the judge added. “Although, I don’t want anyone to get the impression that someone less intelligent should be treated less well.”

He said the youth had downloaded a “significant volume of terrorist material accrued over a number of months” and had talked online about avoiding being sent on the Prevent de-radicalisation course.

The youth was stopped at Bristol Airport on 2 December 2019 as he and his father were about to catch a flight to his native Poland.

A Samsung Galaxy 8 mobile phone and Huawei tablet later found at his home included chat messages from encrypted social media apps including Discord and Wire in which the youth adopted the name “Apollo”.

When police raided the family home they found the desk in his bedroom had a number of symbols etched into its surface including swastikas and the letters DOTR and a noose, a reference to the “day of the rope” when far-right extremists plan to rise up and hang “race traitors”.

The blond-haired youth stood in the dock at Bristol Youth Court in a white collared shirt as the judge made a 12-month referral order.

Related posts:

Ex-cabinet minister and Lib Dem peer Shirley Williams – one of the ‘Gang of Four’ – dies aged 90 Gap between first and second vaccine doses shrinks to eight weeks for over-50s amid variant fears Over-35s to be offered jabs in coming days as government urges those eligible to come forward Woman in hospital with life-changing injuries after being attack by her own dog First flight carrying British nationals evacuated from Afghanistan arrives in UK Why everyone in Westminster is so convinced Boris Johnson is about to reshuffle his cabinet Runaway IS bride sorry ‘from bottom of my heart’ – as she says only crime was being ‘dumb’ Katie Price avoids jail after flipping car while drink-driving People in quarantine hotels to be told today when they can leave after travel red list scrapped ‘He has destroyed our souls’: Victims’ families speak out as David Fuller handed whole life sentence ‘Bring it on!’: Johnson recovers his bounce as he vows to fight off the Tory rebels Work from home advice ends and face coverings no longer mandatory in classrooms in England