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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Daniel Boffey Chief reporter

Terror-plotting Essex teenager jailed for life after mother reports him

Matthew King wearing camoflage
Matthew King was given a life sentence with a minimum term of six years for planning a terrorist attack on British police officers or soldiers. Photograph: Metropolitan police/PA

A teenager who staked out British soldiers and police officers in preparation for a terror attack has been jailed for life after his mother took what a judge has described as the “bold step” to report him.

Matthew King, 19, who wanted to travel to Syria to join Islamic State, expressed a desire online to kill a British Marine and had made a series of videos of potential targets outside an army barracks, a magistrates court and railway station.

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