Exploited girl accused of terrorism had ‘obsession with Hitler’, inquest told

A teenage girl who is believed to have taken her own life after she was charged with terrorism offences had an “obsession with Hitler” and wanted to “blow up” a Jewish place of worship after she was groomed by an extremist, an inquest has heard.

Chesterfield Coroner’s Court was told that Rhianan Rudd, aged 16 when she died, was a victim of grooming by a “neo-Nazi” and was investigated after she downloaded a bomb-making manual and scratched a swastika mark on to herself.

Chief coroner Judge Alexia Durran told the inquest that Rhianan, from Chesterfield, died on May 19 2022 at Bluebell House Residential Home in Nottinghamshire, when she was found with a ligature around her neck.

She became the youngest person to be charged with terror offences in the UK but her charges were dropped five months before her death when evidence emerged that she had been exploited.

The inquest heard Rhianan, who was a looked after child in the care of the local authority at the time of her death, had autism and self-harmed because she had “too many emotions” and “did not know how to deal with them”.

In an email on September 7 2020, Rhianan’s mother Emily Carter told Prevent, a Home Office counter-terrorism programme, that her daughter had a “massive dislike for certain races”, counsel to the inquest Edward Pleeth said.

During an assessment that month, it was recorded that Rhianan had an “obsession with Hitler”, whom the court heard she had a shrine to in her bedroom, and was a “Holocaust denier”.

The court was told that messages sent on WhatsApp by Rhianan were detailed in a student incident statement in September 2020 saying she “wants to kill someone in the school or blow up a Jewish place of worship” and that she “does not care who she kills and nothing matters any more”.

The messages were “deemed to be suggestive of a violent and right-wing ideological mindset” by police, a malicious communications crime report was filed, and it was deemed “appropriate” to try to obtain evidence rather than to arrest Rhianan.

Superintendent Stephen Riley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands (CTPEM), told the court two police officers attended Rhianan’s home address on October 9 2020 before seizing a USB memory stick and a diary from her.

PDF files were recovered relating to bomb making, guerrilla warfare and home-made weapons, and her diary made references to firearms, the inquest heard.

In October 2020, CTPEM shared information with MI5 who then opened an investigation into Rhianan, Mr Pleeth said.

The court was told that on October 20 2020, during a meeting police decided that Rhianan would not be arrested because it was “believed to risk some impact on her mental health” and “could possibly lead to further self harm and suicide attempts”.

But after Rhianan was admitted to hospital that same day after scratching a swastika on to her forehead, the court was told that a decision was made the following day, on October 21, to arrest her.

The court was also told that Rhianan had been speaking to an American extremist, described in court as a “neo-Nazi”, who had “encouraged her to read some books” about Jewish and black people, the inquest was told.

In September 2020 it was recorded that she said she had stopped speaking to the extremist in March but then “seemed to contradict herself”, meaning it was possible they were still communicating, the court heard.

Some of Rhianan’s drawings included a person giving a Nazi salute, and another of a male with a knife looking “like he is going to stab the other male”, the inquest heard.

A pen portrait read on behalf of Rhianan’s mother said that her daughter would get “fixated” on things, which is “normal” for people with autism.

The statement said: “My daughter being groomed was huge and I saw Rhianan change. This had a great impact on her and I did all I thought was right by her.

“She was one of the kindest and most loving children I ever had the honour to know. People used to tell me how lovely she was.

“I miss her more than life itself, I miss her smile, her laugh, her conversations – I just miss her.”

Ms Carter wrote that Rhianan had been born into a domestic violence relationship but had been “unapologetic” and “unique in all she did”.

Mr Pleeth told the court that Rhianan’s charges were discontinued on December 29 2021.

Judge Durran told the court that the inquest’s scope includes how Rhianan’s risk of self-harm and suicide was acted upon, including the circumstances leading up to her charges being dropped, and how her care and support was co-ordinated.

The inquest continues.