Charges against 16-year-old for alleged IS support and church attack plans

Charges have been brought against a 16-year-old for suspected support of IS and suspected plans to attack a church in Hamm, Westphalia. The Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office said he is currently in a psychiatric hospital on the basis of a detention order. According to previous information from the authorities, the teenager was arrested almost six months ago.

According to the public prosecutor's office, after obtaining a specialist psychiatric report from an expert, it was determined that the accused was "significantly limited in his ability to understand the crimes due to a mental illness." The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court will now decide whether the indictment will be admitted to the main hearing.

The 16-year-old is said to have been in contact with a member of the so-called Islamic State (IS) via a messenger service between May and October 2024, the public prosecutor's office said. He is said to have discussed possible attack scenarios with another person between October 2025 and March 2026.

He is said to have agreed to carry out an attack in Germany - an arson attack on a church in Hamm. To this end, he is said to have received specific instructions on how to spy on the church building and partially put them into practice - including by purchasing a drone. He is also sufficiently suspected of trying to explode a tree stand with New Year's Eve rockets in March 2026.