Syrian teenager in Germany convicted over plot to attack Taylor Swift concert

A Syrian teenager in Germany has been convicted of taking part in a foiled terrorist plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Austria last year.

The defendant — a 16-year-old identified only as Mohammad A in line with German privacy rules — was found guilty by a Berlin court on Tuesday of "preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state" and "supporting a terrorist act of violence abroad".

He was given an 18-month suspended sentence under juvenile criminal law.

Judges found that Mohammad A — aged 14 at the time of the thwarted plot — supported the ideology of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, and was in contact via social media with a young man in Austria who planned to attack a Swift concert in Vienna.

The defendant had sent his acquaintance a video with bomb-building instructions and organised contact with an IS member, according to the judges.

Mohammad A made a "comprehensive confession" at his trial, which was held behind closed doors because of his age, the court said. The verdict can be appealed.

Three Swift concerts in Vienna were cancelled on 7 August 2024, when the plot was discovered. Austrian authorities made three arrests, all of whom were teenagers.

Austrian officials said then that the main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian man, was inspired by the IS terrorist group.

He allegedly planned to attack outside the stadium with knives or homemade explosives. Investigators found chemical substances and technical devices during a raid of his home.

The investigation into the main suspect is still ongoing in Austria.

In late August last year, Swift said the cancellation of the Vienna gigs was "devastating".

"The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows," she wrote in a statement posted to Instagram.

"But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives," Swift added.