An 18-year-old from south Wales has been sentenced after admitting possession of extremist material connected to a planned attack targeting a major live music event.
McKenzie Morgan, from Cwmbran in Torfaen, was handed a 14-month sentence in a young offenders’ institution after pleading guilty to possessing an Al-Q**da training manual, a document prosecutors said was likely to be useful to someone preparing an act of terrorism.
The court heard that Morgan had planned to carry out an attack at the opening night of Oasis’ long-awaited reunion tour, which took place on 4 July at Principality Stadium. Prosecutors said he expressed a desire to conduct what he described as a “Rudakubana-style attack”, as reported by BBC.
Speaking during sentencing, prosecutor Corinne Bramwell said Morgan had become fixated on the 2024 Southport attack carried out by Axel Rudakubana, in which multiple people were injured during an assault at a children’s Taylor Swift-themed dance class. Rudakubana was later sentenced to a minimum prison term of 52 years at the start of 2025.
According to evidence presented in court, Morgan told others that he was attempting to produce ricin, a highly dangerous toxin, and sent an image of a large knife to a friend, asking: “would this work?” Authorities stressed that no physical attack was carried out.
Morgan first came to police attention on 2 June after an individual contacted officers expressing concern over material they had seen on Snapchat. He was initially arrested and later released on bail, during which time his mobile phone was seized. Analysis of the device uncovered multiple banned extremist documents, including instructions related to knife attacks, as well as images associated with Rudakubana.
He was rearrested on 19 June 2025 and appeared in court two days later. During questioning, Morgan admitted that he had searched for, downloaded, and read the Al-Q**da training manual. He subsequently entered a guilty plea to a single charge of possessing a terrorist publication.
The Crown Prosecution Service stated that the document met the legal threshold of being material “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”
In sentencing Morgan, the court acknowledged the seriousness of the offence while noting that the case was brought to a halt following public vigilance and police intervention.
Authorities reiterated the importance of reporting concerning online behaviour and emphasized that early intervention played a key role in preventing harm.
