Alina Burns, 19, attacked Mohammed Mahmoodi, 27, with an axe as he stood outside his barber shop in Bedminster, Bristol, in what the court found to be a terrorist-motivated hate crime
Alina Burns then aged 18, attacked Mohammed Mahmoodi, an Iranian Kurd, with an axe on August 2 last yearA teenager who developed an obsession with neo-Nazis and attempted to behead a Kurdish barber with an axe because she wanted to "kill all Jews and Muslims" has been sentenced to more than 15 years behind bars.
Alina Burns, 19, launched the attack on Mohammed Mahmoodi, 27, as he stood outside his shop in Bedminster, Bristol, in August last year. Bristol Crown Court heard that Burns had been driven by neo-Nazi extremism and had been in contact with far-right groups. She had told a man on a dating app to "kill all Jews and Muslims" and had searched online for information relating to Jihad, the Southport stabbings, Jewish supremacy and Nazi Germany.
: "The prosecution case is that the defendant had an extreme right-wing mindset and wanted Jews and Muslims to be killed and non-whites to flee or be expelled from the UK. The day before the attack the defendant was watching videos of SS marches and sent an email called, 'The dawn of civil war'.
" At an earlier hearing, Burns, of Lynton Road, Bristol, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and three charges of possessing an article with a blade or point – namely an axe, a scalpel and two darts. She had denied a charge of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, contrary to the Terrorism Act, reportsThe Crown argued that despite accepting the pleas, a terrorist motivation to the attack remained, which was upheld by the judge, Mrs Justice Lambert.
Passing sentence, the judge stated: "I have no doubt that you are a dangerous offender and you remain deeply entrenched in your abnormal belief system. You communicated with a man on an online dating app which at one stage you expressed the desire toall the Jews and Muslims in Britain, and also carry out a plan where you wished to take all the glory for carrying this out.
"There were Telegram chats with the Patriotic Alternative, a far-right group. "The leader of the Patriotic Alternative has made highly racist and homophobic comments in public. The judge determined that Burns met the criteria for an extended sentence due to dangerousness. She handed down a custodial term of 15-and-a-half years plus an additional four-year period on licence.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of 2 August when Burns approached Mr Mahmoodi from behind and swung the axe – which she had purchased for the attack – at his neck, inflicting a smallMr Mahmoodi, who was considerably larger than the 5ft 2in Burns, managed to wrestle the axe away from her before she could strike him again. A nearby police officer heard the disturbance and attended the scene in East Street, where Burns was arrested.
Asked why she had attacked the Kurdish-Iranian man, Burns told the officer: "Because I wanted to cut his neck. I would do it again, but to succeed.
" She subsequently told a Mental Health Act assessor that she was aware Mr Mahmoodi worked in the barbers, which she claimed was involved "in money laundering". "I know of him, he works in the Turkish barbers, I think they are money laundering and the police aren't doing anything about it," she said. Miss Gates told the court: "She further asked if it had been on the news yet.
She said she wanted to influence people to do the same thing, but be successful. Following Burns' arrest, officers uncovered her connections to far-right organisations and extremist ideology. Five months prior to the attack, she had used an online dating application to communicate with a man, telling him: "I am the embodiment of hell and desire to amplify everything I bear witness too. I don't want to end my life anymore.
I plan on bringing change to the UK through means I can't detail.
"The man, whose identity was not revealed in court, reported the exchange to the police, the court was told. Investigators discovered handwritten notes at her home relating to the "spread of Islam", instructions on how to manufacture explosives using fertiliser, and nuclear weapons. Also found were notes referencing German SS units from the Second World War, Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf, and the nationalist novel The Turner Diaries.
On her notebook computer was a copy of a terrorist handbook detailing chemicals and IEDs. Burns had additionally used the Telegram messaging app to make contact with a representative of the British far-right organisation Patriotic Alternative. In a victim personal statement, Mr Mahmoodi revealed he had fled Iran due to persecution and had sought asylum in the UK.
"I cannot move my neck easily and the physical reminder of the scar where I was nearly killed is a daily reminder. My mental health has suffered and I am living in fear.
"My sleep in impacted and I wake up with bad dreams and nightmares of being attacked from behind with an axe. I am still living with the effects of the attack more mentally than I could have imagined.
" Andrew Langdon KC, defending, said Burns had endured a troubled childhood as a result of her family being made homeless and residing in various temporary accommodation. "My Ladyship's primary concern will be for Mr Mahmoodi and for society. " Mr Langdon noted that, despite both of Burns's parents working as teachers, the teenager had ceased attending full-time education at the age of 14.
"The last three of four years of her life are spiralling descent and isolation, despite living with her family," he added.
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