A Nazi-saluting teenager who threatened to carry out a college shooting has been spared jail. Theodore Hopes has been sentenced to a two-year community order for making threats to kill. Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard the 18-year-old said: “I want to go into Newtown College, I want to shoot people.” It was told Hopes, from Llandrindod Wells, Powys, wrote a “manifesto” and searched online about pipe bombs and secondary school attacks. But the court was told there was no evidence Hopes took steps to act on the threats. Jason Howells, prosecuting, said Hopes was arrested at his father’s home in Llandrindod Wells in December 2025, and a police body camera captured him talking about wanting to kill himself and others. At Brecon police station he was examined by health care professional Lesley Watson, who said Hopes had “dark thoughts of envy, rage and suicide”. He told her a gun he had had been taken away, but said: “I can still go in and stab people.” She told officers he was “dead behind the eyes” and “adamant on harming people”. The court heard on Thursday Hopes told her: “I want to go into Newton College, I want to shoot people.” Hopes told her, Watson said, he wanted to commit “suicide by police”. Hopes told officers that he had no intention of attacking anyone and had no grudges against people at the college. Judge Paul Lewis KC told the court Hopes was twice referred to the Prevent counter extremism programme without success. ‘Theo Hopes, mass murderer’ When his phone was searched by police they found a manifesto called “The end of Theo Hopes”, which included the phrase: “Theo Hopes, mass murderer.” This was, the court heard, to be sent to political parties, the press and Dyfed-Powys Police commissioner after his death. Hopes also visited websites selling human skulls and bones and bought an air gun, which was confiscated by police. On his phone was a video of Hitler, which also showed Hopes giving a Nazi salute.
via bbc: Nazi-saluting teen who planned college shooting spared jail
siehe auch: Nazi teenager threatened mass shooting at college. A Welsh teenager who threatened to carry out a mass shooting at his college, compiled a nine-page murder manifesto and filmed himself performing Nazi salutes has escaped a custodial sentence after a court heard he was driven by isolation, mental health problems, and substance misuse. Theodore Hopes, 18, from Llandrindod Wells, pleaded guilty at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court to making threats to kill. Officers had visited him at his father’s home in December last year following concerns, and when he was arrested he made a remark to police about planning a school shooting at Newtown College, which he attended. Hitler speeches His phone was found to contain footage of him watching Adolf Hitler speeches and performing Nazi salutes, an English translation of Mein Kampf, images of Samurai swords, and browsing history covering pipe bombs, mass suicides, school attacks, terrorist incidents, and knife attacks in schools. Police also found a nine-page document titled “Theo Hopes Mass Murderer”, addressed to political parties, media organisations, and the Dyfed-Powys Police and Crime Commissioner, carrying the subheading “Manifesto, the end of Theo Hopes”. The court heard that the document appeared to have been intended for distribution following the commission of a serious crime and Hopes’ own death. Dead behind the eyes A meental health practitioner who assessed Hopes described him as speaking in a calm, cold, and matter-of-fact way and appearing dead behind the eyes. Sentencing, Recorder Paul Lewis KC described Hopes’ attitudes as misogynistic and far-right, adding that he had developed troubling and potentially dangerous thoughts and ideas, with a fascination with weapons, bombs, school attacks, and Nazi materials.
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