Gloucester teen Kyle Davies guilty of mass shooting plot

A teenager has been found guilty of planning a mass shooting.

Kyle Davies, 19, from Gloucester, bought a handgun and ammunition from a dealer on the dark web.

A jury at Gloucester Crown Court found him guilty of two counts of attempting to possess a Glock 17 pistol and five rounds of 9mm ammunition with intent to endanger life.

He previously pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children. He is due to be sentenced at a later date.

He denied the charges, saying he had bought the weapon to kill himself.

The trial heard the Columbine school shooters and Anders Breivik in Norway were "poster boys" to Davies.

The court was told he developed a "deep and persistent" interest in mass shootings during his A-Levels.

A package containing the weapon and ammunition was intercepted by Homeland Security at Newark airport, New Jersey, and officers in the UK were tipped off.

The parcel was substituted for a dummy one that was delivered by an undercover officer to Davies's home in Gloucester, where he was arrested.

A search of his home revealed computer files and notes about mass killers.

The jury heard Davies had spent £1,000 on the gun and ammunition.

He told police he had bought it to take his own life, yet the court heard he had written out a list of other items he wanted to buy including petrol, a gas mask and body armour.

Davies had also drawn 77 stick men to represent the victims of the 2011 explosion and shootings in Norway.

Officers from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) said they had stopped Davies at "phase one" of his plan and found no evidence that he had identified a target.

Det Insp Kevin Till, of the SWROCU, said: "The depth of research Davies had carried out and the extent of his planning under what he himself termed 'phase one' leaves us in no doubt he was intending to follow in the footsteps of the murderers he idolised."

The jury convicted him unanimously, following a two-week trial. Sentencing was adjourned to a date yet to be fixed, pending psychiatric reports.

He will also be sentenced for two counts of evading the prohibition on the importation of firearms and ammunition and two counts of making indecent images of children, which he pleaded guilty to at a previous hearing.