A teenager found with an axe and a stash of knives in a duffle bag has been charged with preparing a terrorist attack in the first case said to be motivated by ‘misanthropy’, a hatred of humanity.
It comes amid concerns that young people preparing mass casualty attacks are escaping with relatively minor charges because they are not considered to have an ideology.
Terrorist attacks are defined as the use or threat of serious violence for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.
