UK Teen Charged with Terror Offences Dies by Suicide After Online Grooming

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Rhianan Rudd, a 16-year-old from Derbyshire, became the youngest person in the UK charged with terror-related offences before her tragic suicide in May 2022. An inquest revealed she had been groomed online by an American neo-Nazi, leading to her fixation on Adolf Hitler and extremist ideology, according to her mother, Emily Carter. Rudd had expressed violent sentiments, including a desire to harm others, and was placed under the government's Prevent counter-radicalization program which her mother initiated.

The court heard that Rudd had been linked to known far-right extremists and had downloaded a bomb-making manual prior to her arrest in October 2020. Although initially not arrested due to concerns over her mental health, she was charged with six terrorism offences by April 2021, amidst the backdrop of her deteriorating emotional state. Rudd, struggling with autism, died in a residential facility after multiple self-harm incidents.

Carter described her daughter as kind-hearted but radically changed after online grooming, underscoring the devastating impact of extremist influence on vulnerable youth. The inquest is ongoing and aims to illuminate the failures that contributed to Rudd's tragic fate.

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