Teens accused in London court of ‘extreme right-wing mindset’ and discussing terrorism plans

LONDON (AP) — Two teenagers were accused in a London courtroom Friday of having an “extreme right-wing mindset” and discussing plans to carry out terrorism.

Rex Clark, 18, and Sofija Vinogradova, 19, face charges of preparation of terrorist acts. Vinogradova is also charged with two counts of collecting information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Police said the arrests of the pair were not connected to recent rioting by the far-right in the U.K. They also said they don’t think there’s a broader threat at this time.

“These are extremely serious charges but I would urge the public not to speculate any further about this case,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the counter-terrorism force at the Metropolitan Police.

Prosecutors in Westminster Magistrates’ Court said the two communicated on a Telegram chatgroup and discussed testing petroleum bombs. The plans were not fully formed.

Vinogradova was initially arrested Aug. 4 on suspicion of having a gun and collecting information that could be useful to a terrorist. She was arrested again Aug. 10 with Clark and police got a warrant to detain them.

Murphy said the allegations are not related to recent unrest that swept across much of England and roiled Belfast, Northern Ireland. More than a week of violent clashes with police broke out July 30 after far-right agitators spread misinformation online that incorrectly said the suspect in a stabbing that killed three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class was a Muslim asylum seeker.

The two were held in custody and ordered to appear at a hearing Sept. 13 in the Central Criminal Court.