Latest news with #CounterTerrorismPolicingEastMidlands
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Chances missed' to help groomed terrorism suspect
An inquest into the death of a 16-year-old girl who was groomed before being charged with terrorism offences has found there were missed opportunities to help her by the authorities. Chief coroner Alexia Durran concluded there were chances for the police and Derbyshire County Council to refer Rhianan Rudd earlier for consideration as a potential victim of modern slavery. Ms Rudd was the youngest girl charged with terrorism offences in the UK when she was charged with having weapon-making guides but the charges were dropped in 2021 after the Home Office concluded she was a victim of exploitation. She took her own life in May 2022. At the conclusion of her inquest on Monday, Ms Durran said at Chesterfield Coroner's Court there was arguably a "systems failure" by counter-terror police and the county council, which meant they failed to refer the teenager to the government earlier. However, the inquest found no organisation was to blame for her death. The inquest heard Ms Rudd had been groomed and sexually exploited online by an American neo-Nazi. The coroner found she was also influenced by a former partner of her mother who had once been in a white supremacist gang. Her mother, Emily Carter, said she accepted making errors and asked for the authorities "to stand up and admit their mistakes". In a statement, Ms Carter said: "I believe there were many people in positions of authority who could and should have realised mistakes were being made in the way Rhianan was treated and that opportunities to support her were being missed. "Throughout this time, I saw first-hand the impact these failings had on my daughter's mental health in the period before she took her life." Ms Durran also found there were missed opportunities by the council to provide mental health support sooner. She delivered an open conclusion after finding she could not be sure Ms Rudd intended to die. Ms Carter added: "The chief coroner has found that Rhianan was denied access to services which should have supported and protected her and, I believe, could have saved her life." Assistant Chief Constable Di Coulson, speaking on behalf of Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands (CTPEM) and Derbyshire Constabulary, said the case had been a complex one "involving a very vulnerable young person, who had been subjected to radicalisation". "Rhianan's case was a stark moment for our management of the growing numbers of children and young people in our casework – so often presenting vulnerability as well as risk and threat to the public," she said. "Since Rhianan's death, we continue to work alongside our partners to evolve the way we approach cases involving children and, where feasible, attempt to rehabilitate and deradicalise, rather than investigate and convict." Ms Coulson added that while "substantial improvements to the way we manage these cases" had been made, the inquest findings would be "carefully reviewed". Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Groomed girl, 16, 'thriving' in home before death Groomed girl who died charged without 'full picture' Girl took overdose days before terror charges made Groomed girl was 'fixated on Hitler' before death Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands
Sky News
27-02-2025
- Sky News
Rhianan Rudd: Groomed teenage girl who was accused of terrorism had 'obsession with Hitler', inquest told
A 16-year-old girl, who is believed to have taken her own life after facing terror charges, had wanted to "blow up" a Jewish place of worship and was obsessed with Adolf Hitler, an inquest has been told. Rhianan Rudd was a victim of grooming by a "neo-Nazi" American extremist who had "encouraged her to read some books" about Jewish and black people, Chesterfield Coroner's Court heard. Rhianan's mother Emily Carter said in a statement: "My daughter being groomed was huge and I saw Rhianan change. This had a great impact on her and I did all I thought was right by her. "She was one of the kindest and most loving children I ever had the honour to know. "I miss her more than life itself, I miss her smile, her laugh, her conversations - I just miss her." Rhianan, from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, had been born into a domestic violence relationship, her mother also said. The teenager was investigated by authorities after she downloaded a bombmaking manual and scratched a swastika mark on to her forehead, and she became the youngest person to be charged with terror offences in the UK, the court heard. But her charges were dropped five months before her death when evidence emerged she had been exploited. Rhianan's death She died on 19 May 2022 at a children's home in Nottinghamshire, the inquest was told. It heard that at the time of her death, the teenager was a looked-after child in the care of the local authority, had autism and self-harmed because she had "too many emotions" and "did not know how to deal with them". Rhianan's mother wrote in a 7 September 2020 email to the Home Office counter-terrorism programme Prevent that the teenager had a "massive dislike for certain races", counsel to the inquest Edward Pleeth said. 'Shrine in bedroom to Hitler' It was recorded during that month that Rhianan had an "obsession with Hitler", whom the court heard she had a shrine to in her bedroom, and was a "Holocaust denier". The court was told that WhatsApp messages sent by Rhianan were contained in a student incident statement in September 2020, saying she "wants to kill someone in the school or blow up a Jewish place of worship" and that she "does not care who she kills and nothing matters anymore". Also that month, it was recorded she said she had stopped speaking to the American extremist in March but then "seemed to contradict herself", meaning it was possible they were still communicating, the court heard. Home searched Two police officers went to Rhianan's home address on 9 October 2020 and seized a USB memory stick and a diary from her. PDF files related to bomb making, guerrilla warfare and homemade weapons, were recovered and her diary referenced firearms, the inquest was told. That month, Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands shared information with MI5 who opened an investigation into Rhianan, and on 20 October 2020 police decided not to arrest her because it was "believed to risk some impact on her mental health" and "could possibly lead to further self harm and suicide attempts", the court heard. But after she was admitted to hospital that same day after scratching a swastika on to her face, the court was told that a decision was made on 21 October to arrest her. Mr Pleeth told the court that Rhianan's charges were discontinued on 29 December 2021. Chief coroner Judge Alexia Durran said the scope of the inquest includes how Rhianan's risk of self-harm and suicide was acted upon, such as the circumstances leading up to her charges being dropped, and how her care and support was coordinated. The inquest continues.
