A police van sits outside a house in Mossley, northern England February 17, 2015.
A police van sits outside a house in Mossley, northern England February 17, 2015. Two 16-year-olds have have been arrested near Manchester under counter terrorism legislation and police said on Tuesday they were searching two properties on the basis of intelligence reports. Officers from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit (NWCTU) detained a boy and a girl in the town of Mossley on Monday, Greater Manchester Police said in a statement. Reuters/Andrew Yates

A 16-year-old schoolgirl from Manchester has been found guilty of two terror charges by the court on Wednesday. She was arrested in Northern England along with a 14-year-old boy from Blackburn, Lancashire, on April 3.

The anti-terror police found a “recipe for explosives” book in her personal sketch pad and a mobile phone that had “The Anarchist Cookbook” with a manual about manufacturing explosives. While investigating, the police came to the conclusion that the girl belonged to the group that was planning to attack police officers on the Anzac Day during the parade in Melbourne, Australia.

The girl, not to be named due to her age, defended herself, saying the sketch pad was for a school project and the recipe for explosives was for a TV show on fireworks for kids. She claimed not having any business with the attack plan or terrorism.

The boy admitted to be a part of the Islamic State-driven group that was planning to attack the officers at the ANZAC parade. He was held guilty in July at the Old Bailey for encouraging terror attacks abroad. After the retrieval of mobile data, the police claimed the pair conversed via 2,000 WhatsApp messages in April a day before they were arrested. In the girl’s phone, the police also saw some Islamic State images, publications, flags, weapon pictures and photos of terrorist personalities like Osama Bin Laden.

Also, the girl used the computers in her school to search for information regarding Jihadi John, images of Michael Adebolajo, who killed Fusilier Lee Rigby at Woolwich in 2013.

Judge Khalid Qureshi found the girl guilty on Wednesday under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000. “I accept it’s a unique case in its nature” but would be treated as other youth cases, Qureshi said .

The girl was allowed bail with certain conditions – she should stay at a particular address, give attendance to police at the interval of three days and should not leave the country or apply for any kind of travel documents.

She will be sentenced on Oct 15 at the Manchester Youth Court.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.

RELATED STORIES