Neo-Nazi teen tried to behead Kurdish barber after swinging axe at his neck

A neo-Nazi teenager has been jailed after she tried to behead a Kurdish barber with an axe in Bristol – and told a man on a dating app to ‘kill all Jews and Muslims’

A neo-Nazi teenager who wanted to kill all Jews and Muslims to create a white-only Britain tried to behead a Kurdish barber with an axe has been jailed for more than 15 years..

Alina Burns, 19, attacked Mohammed Mahmoodi, 27, with the weapon as he stood outside the shop in Bedminster, Bristol, in August last year. Bristol Crown Court heard Burns had been driven by neo-Nazi extremism and had been in contact with far-right groups.

She had told a man on a dating app to “kill all Jews and Muslims”, and had searched for information online about Jihad, the Southport stabbings, Jewish supremacy and Nazi Germany.

Serena Gates KC, prosecuting, told the court: “The prosecution case is that the defendant had an extreme right-wing mindset and wanted Jews and Muslims to be killed, and non-whites to flee or be expelled from the UK.

“The day before the attack the defendant was watching videos of SS marches and sent an email called ‘The dawn of civil war’.”

The incident occurred on the afternoon of August 2 when Burns approached Mr Mahmoodi from behind and swung the axe – that she had bought for the attack – at his neck, causing a small wound.

Mr Mahmoodi, who was considerably larger than the 5ft 2in Burns, managed to wrestle the axe away from her before she could strike him again.

A nearby police officer heard the disturbance and went to the scene in East Street and arrested Burns. When asked why she had attacked the Kurdish-Iranian man, Burns told the officer: “Because I wanted to cut his neck. I would do it again, but to succeed.”

She subsequently informed a Mental Health Act assessor that she was aware Mr Mahmoodi was employed at the barbers, which she believed was involved “in money laundering”.

“I know of him, he works in the Turkish barbers, I think they are money laundering and the police aren’t doing anything about it,” she said. “So, if I done this, then maybe the police would investigate the shop.”

Miss Gates told the court: “She further asked if it had been on the news yet. She said she wanted to influence people to do the same thing, but be successful. She stated she would do it again, but to succeed.”

Following Burns’s arrest, police uncovered her connections to far-right groups and extremism. Five months prior to the attack she had utilised an online dating app to communicate with a man, telling him: “I am the embodiment of hell and desire to amplify everything I bear witness too. I don’t want to end my life any more. I plan on bringing change to the UK through means I can’t detail.”

She subsequently instructed him to “kill all the Jews and Muslims in Britain please”. The man, who remained unnamed in court, reported the conversation to police, the court heard.

Officers discovered at her residence handwritten notes concerning the “spread of Islam”, instructions on using fertiliser to create explosives, and nuclear weapons.

There were also notes regarding German SS units that served during the Second World War, Adolf Hitler’s book Mein Kampf and the nationalist novel The Turner Diaries. On her laptop was a copy of a terrorist handbook containing information about chemicals and IEDs.

Burns had also utilised the Telegram messaging app to communicate with a representative of the British far-right group Patriotic Alternative.

In a victim personal statement Mr Mahmoodi said he had fled Iran because of persecution and had sought asylum in the UK.

“After this attack my life has completely changed,” he said.

“I cannot move my neck easily and the physical reminder of the scar where I was nearly killed is a daily reminder. My mental health has suffered and I am living in fear.

“My sleep in impacted and I wake up with bad dreams and nightmares of being attacked from behind with an axe.

“I am still living with the effects of the attack more mentally than I could have imagined.”

Andrew Langdon KC, defending, said Burns had experienced a difficult childhood due to her family being made homeless and living in a series of temporary accommodation.

“This is plainly a disturbing case for a number of reasons,” he said.

“My Ladyship’s primary concern will be for Mr Mahmoodi and for society.”

Mr Langdon said that despite both of Burns’s parents being teachers, the teenager had stopped attending full-time education at 14.

“The last three of four years of her life are spiralling descent and isolation, despite living with her family,” he added.

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