A teenage Muslim convert who became radicalised online during lockdown was 24 hours away from carrying out a terrorist attack when he was arrested, police have revealed.
Matthew King, 19, carried out reconnaissance on a police station and an army barracks in east London and researched buying knives and a sword on the internet.
After covertly taking photographs of police officers standing outside a magistrates court, King posted a message on Snapchat which read: “Target acquired.”
Commander Dom Murphy from Scotland Yard’s SO15 counter terrorism command said he believed King had been as little as 24 hours away from launching a low sophistication terrorist attack when he was arrested on May 18 last year at his home in Wickford, Essex.
Earlier this year, King admitted one count of preparing a terrorist act and at a hearing at London’s Old Bailey on Friday was sentenced to life with a minimum term of six years.
King, who lived with his mother and two sisters, had a troubled childhood. He was expelled from school and referred to a special educational unit in Basildon.
He converted to Islam after spending hours online while isolated during the Covid lockdown.
His mother said it initially helped him have some focus, but he quickly became more extreme in his views, questioning how his sisters dressed and calling them “slags”.
King soon became obsessed with Islamic State and began researching notorious terrorists including Mohammed Emwazi aka Jihadi John and Salman Abedi, the Manchester Arena suicide bomber.
In December 2021, King registered with an online knife supplier and made inquiries about purchasing a sword.
He also bought military-style equipment including special ops glasses, a balaclava and technical combat gloves.
In online conversations with a Muslim girlfriend, King discussed wanting to travel to Syria to become a martyr and spoke of how he dreamed of torturing and killing British and US soldiers.
‘Kill all non-Muslims’
He also changed his WhatsApp status to: “Kill all non-Muslims wherever you see them.”
King, who had been attending a mosque in Chelmsford, Essex, was asked to leave after posting messages on social media praising jihad.
His behaviour became so concerning that the police received numerous reports from members of the public including calls to the anti-terror hotline.
In April 2022, he carried out internet searches for Usman Khan and Karim Butt who were responsible for separate terror attacks in London in 2017.
At an Eid event in Southend he spoke about the importance of jihad and picked up a water pistol and squirted a community support officer.
With help from MI5, counter terror police mounted a covert surveillance operation on King and observed him carrying out hostile reconnaissance on police stations in Stratford, east London.
On May 17, King was spotted scoping out the 7th Battalion The Rifles barracks in West Ham and the following day, fearing he was just hours from launching an attack, counter-terror police raided his home and arrested him.
Commander Murphy praised the actions of those who had reported King and said lives had probably been saved.
He said: “I know public confidence is a real challenge for the Met at the moment but this is a story about people being saved from a terrorist attack by members of the public.
“If it had not been for the public reports our investigation would have been all the more challenging. It’s thanks to that support from the public that we were able to keep the public safe.”
When King was arrested he told officers: “I don’t believe in the UK law, the only law I believe in is the law of Allah.”
Mr Murphy said while he had pleaded guilty to the offences, King had shown no remorse since his arrest and had not changed his mindset.
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