Teenager convicted over IS-inspired plot to attack Taylor Swift concert

Source: The Guardian

Teenager convicted over IS-inspired plot to attack Taylor Swift concert

Mohammad A, 16, given 18-month suspended sentence for helping plan foiled attack in Vienna

Guardian staff and agencies in Berlin
Tue 26 Aug 2025 19.15 BST
Last modified on Tue 26 Aug 2025 19.36 BST

A Berlin court has convicted a Syrian teenager of contributing to an Islamic State-inspired plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.

Three dates in the US pop star’s record-breaking Eras tour were cancelled last summer after authorities learned of the plot.

The 16-year-old defendant, named by prosecutors as Mohammad A, was found guilty of “preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state” and “supporting a terrorist act abroad”. He was given an 18-month suspended sentence.

Mohammad A, who was 14 at the time of the foiled attack, had been “radicalised by IS [Islamic State] propaganda on the internet”, the court said. He was found guilty of providing support to another teenager in Austria in plotting the atrocity.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/aug/26/teenager-took-part-in-terror-plot-to-attack-taylor-swift-concert-court-finds