Youngest girl in Britain to be charged with terror offences killed herself after being groomed by American neo-Nazis, inquest hears

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

The youngest girl in Britain to be charged with terror offences killed herself at children's home after being groomed and radicalised by two convicted American neo-Nazis, a coroner ruled.
Autistic Rhianan Rudd, 16, plotted to blow up a synagogue and scratched a swastika into her forehead after coming into contact with the two men, one of whom was dating her mother and moved into their Derbyshire home.
Rhianan was found dead at Bluebell House children's home near Newark, Notts, on May 19, 2022, five months after terror charges against her were dropped.
A four-week inquest into her death heard how Dax Mallaburn, a violent US neo-Nazi with a swastika tattoo on his forearm, moved into the family home in Clowne, Derbyshire, in 2017 after forming a relationship with Rhianan's mother Emily Carter via a prison pen-pal scheme.
Chesterfield Coroner's Court heard Rhianan was also in contact with Christopher Cook, from Ohio, with whom she exchanged explicit photographs. Cook, 23, a member of the banned terrorist group Atomwaffen Division, was jailed in the US in 2023 over a plot to attack power grids.
Rhianan, who had a history of self-harm, was charged with six counts of terrorism in April 2021, removed from school and placed on remand at Bluebell House.
But terror charges against her were later dropped in December 2021 after the Home Office report made a formal finding that she was a victim of exploitation.
Rhianan was referred to the Home Office's Prevent deradicalisation programme and underwent therapy sessions. The last of six sessions was held on May 16, 2022, days before Rhianan's death.
She was found hanged in the shower fully clothed. In the hours before she had posted on Instagram the message: 'I'm delving into madness.'
Rhianan's family believe that the teenager should have been treated from the outset as a victim of exploitation rather than a terror suspect.
Jesse Nicholls, the family's lawyer, had told the inquest she had been 'subjected to an extraordinary and exceptional level of state involvement in the period leading up to her death' and adding that her 'known vulnerability' made her unable to cope.
But Judge Durran concluded on Monday that there were no systemic failures by authorities which contributed to Rhianan's death, though did say delays to accessing mental heath support presented a 'missed opportunity'.
The inquest heard evidence from agencies including MI5, the Crown Prosecution Service, NHS bodies and the police. Some material relating to MI5's involvement with Rhianan was withheld on security grounds.
In her conclusion, Judge Durran said that it was 'not possible' to link Rhianan's death directly to her prosecution, and that she was 'not satisfied' that the teenager intended to take her life.
She concluded: 'There were number of potential stress factors in Rhianan's life in the months and days before her death.
'She had voiced concerns about a possible reinstatement of criminal proceedings and, separately, her mother's prioritisation of and choice of partner, with whom her mother had recently spent a month abroad.
'She had GCSE exams. A number of staff who worked at Bluebell House and other professionals with whom she had formed close relationships were leaving. The Prevent intervention sessions may have triggered thoughts about extreme right-wing ideology.
'She was being given greater access to her mobile phone and the internet, and she had recently been allowed unsupervised time away from the home.
She added: 'It is not possible to say whether any of these stress factors, individually or collectively, more than minimally or negligibly caused or contributed to her death.
'No person regularly in contact with Rhianan had any concerns around the time of her death that she would self-harm or take her own life.'
Chesterfield coroner's court heard how Mallaburn gave Rhianan extremist reading material and was suspected by police of 'inappropriate behaviour' towards her before he returned to the US in 2020.
Rhianan accused him of sexually touching her shortly after she turned 14 but later withdrew the allegation.
The inquest also heard claims that Mallaburn sent himself an explicit recording of Rhianan that he discovered on her old mobile phone.
Judge Durran said 'he played a material role in introducing and encouraging Rhianan's interest in extreme right-wing materials'.
She sad she 'individuals in the United States who further encouraged and developed her extreme right-wing views' adding: 'In particular I find that the Covid-19 lockdown period was a time during which Rhianan, isolated and unsupervised at home, engaged extensively in online discussions that contributed to her radicalisation.'
Cook sent bomb-making manuals and weapons instructions to Rhianan when she was just 14, with the teenager later telling police: 'I was scared before, then I kind of just moved onto the phase of 'I love you'.'
Judge Durran branded Cook, from Ohio, a 'significant radicalising influence on Rhianan'.
The inquest heard that Rhianan's mother had asked police for help in September 2020, warning them that her daughter had developed an 'unhealthy outlook on fascism' and had a 'massive dislikes for certain races and creeds'.
Classmates told school leaders of her intention to 'kill someone in school or blow up a Jewish place of worship'. Drawings found in her school bag included sketches of a man giving a Nazi salute.
Counter-terrorism police discovered computer files relating to bomb making and a manual on how to make firearm using 3D printing.
In October 2020, Rhianan was taken to hospital after carving a swastika into her forehead using the blade of a pencil sharpener 'because she wanted other people to know her beliefs and hoped that the scarring would be permanent'.
She later told a social worker: 'Basically, I do not like anyone who is not white.'
Concluding the inquest he judge said: 'I'm not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, Rhianan intended to take her own life. Rhianan's death... was the result of a self-inflicted act but it is not possible to ascertain her intention.
'Rhianan was known, to family and professionals, to be vulnerable, to have autistic traits and have a history of self-harm.'
The coroner added: 'I find she was highly affected by her arrest and was concerned about being sent to prison.'
It was not known what Rhianan was told by her legal team when the charges were dropped but this may have had a 'psychological impact' on her, the coroner said.
Afterwards, Ms Carter, said she believes her daughter's death was preventable and the agencies involved in her case need to be held accountable.
Ms Carter said Rhianan was not treated as a vulnerable child, despite her autism diagnosis, and she does not believe her daughter was ever a threat to other people.
The mother said: 'She was five foot one, weighed seven stone. She was tiny.
'I don't know what people thought she could do, but I don't believe that she was ever a threat. It was just what people would put in her head - brainwashed her, basically.
'They (the agencies) treated her as a child, but I don't believe they treated her as a vulnerable child.
'If you've got vulnerable children, you take extra steps to watch them, to look after them, to make sure they feel safe, even from themselves, and they didn't. Obviously, she's dead.'
The mother said the moment 19 police officers and two detectives came to arrest her daughter at their family home was 'mind-numbing' and she felt 'violated' when officers turned her house 'upside down'.
She said: 'It hurt ... the fact that they thought that my daughter was some sort of massive terrorist.
'They were going to put her in handcuffs, but the handcuffs didn't go small enough. Even on the smallest ones, they just fell off her hands. That's how small she was.'
Nick Price, Director of Legal Services at the CPS, said: 'This is a tragic case, and I want to send my sincere condolences and sympathy to Rhianan's family. We do not prosecute young or vulnerable people lightly. Terrorism offences are extremely serious, and these are decisions our specialist prosecutors take great care over.'