Teenager accused of planning repeat Columbine massacre ‘asked teacher’s advice on gun,’ court hears

The science teacher of a teenager accused of planning a repeat of the Columbine massacre told a court the boy asked him which gun he would prefer to be shot with. The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also asked for advice from the chemistry teacher about making explosives and told him he wanted to “blow up a mosque,” the Old Bailey heard.

The teenager is on trial accused of stockpiling weapons for a terror attack on his former school in Loughborough, Leicestershire, as well as naming his college, a local mosque, a cinema and council offices as potential targets. He denies the charges.

The teacher told the jury his former pupil looked at firearms on the internet while at school and referred to weapons used in the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado, in which 13 innocent people were killed.

“He asked me which gun I would prefer to be shot with. The message, which I took to as an empty threat at the time, was he was considering a shooting.”

The trial continues.