Sentencing of teen who wanted to carry out 'Doomsday' mass shooting at Edinburgh school

An Edinburgh teenager who wanted to carry out a mass shooting at his own school is to be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.

The teen, now aged 18, repeatedly spoke about carrying out an attack at his secondary, referring to the day he would “clear it out” as “Doomsday”.

The court previously heard the teenager “idolised” the killers behind the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in the United States in 1999, which saw 12 students and a teacher gunned down.

A major police investigation began in the summer of 2023 after a photo circulated on social media showing the boy at school in full combat gear, carrying an imitation gun, which caused panic among pupils and parents.

He had already been referred to a UK-wide anti-terrorism programme aimed at preventing radicalisation.

He also held racist and pro-Nazi views.

The teen pleaded guilty to a breach of the peace and a charge under the Terrorism Act. His offending took place between June 2022 and July 2023.

Defence KC Shelach McCall told the court in March that a professor who assessed her client found a “serious link” between his autism and his behaviour, arguing it was his condition – rather than extremism – that drove his obsession with school shootings.

Ms McCall said the boy had made a “marked improvement” since his offending.

She said: “He has expressed regret and recognises that he didn’t previously appreciate how his behaviour was impacting on others.

“He accepts in the context of his plea of guilty and his remarks about school shootings in 2022, him dressing in that costume and carrying that in a school would generate alarm to those who came upon it but this was not his intent.”

The teenager will appear at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday, July 30.