Neo-Nazi jailed for trying to kill man with axe

A neo-Nazi teenager who attempted to behead a Kurdish barber with an axe in a terrorism-motivated attack has been jailed for 19 years and six months.

Alina Burns, 19, of Lynton Road in Bristol, admitted attempting to murder Mohammed Mahmoodi, 27, outside a barber's shop in Bedminster, Bristol, on 2 August 2025.

Burns approached Mahmoodi from behind and swung the axe at his neck. He was able to wrestle the weapon away from her before she could strike him again.

During sentencing at Bristol Crown Court earlier, Mahmoodi said a scar on his neck is a "daily reminder that I was nearly killed".

Serena Gates KC, prosecuting, said: "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."

Burns was told she must serve a minimum of 15 years and six months in prison.

Det Supt Sarah Robbins, from Counter Terrorism Policing South West, said it was "extremely fortunate that this vicious attack...didn't result in the loss of life".

Supt Deepak Kenth, from Avon and Somerset Police, added: "This is an extremely concerning case in which an 18-year-old woman has carried out a horrific attack on an innocent man in the street as a direct result of the hateful views she harboured."

Burns, who was brought up in Bridgwater in Somerset, had been motivated by neo-Nazi extremism and had been in contact with far-right groups, the court was told.

Gates said on the day before the attack the defendant was watching videos of SS marches and sent an email called The Dawn of Civil War.

Five months before the attack, she had used an online dating app to speak with a man who she told to "kill all the Jews and Muslims in Britain please".

Detectives later found notes at her home on how to use fertiliser to manufacture explosives and nuclear weapons, Adolf Hitler's book 'Mein Kampf' and the nationalist novel The Turner Diaries.

Burns had also used the Telegram messaging app to contact a representative of the British far-right group Patriotic Alternative.

At a previous hearing, Burns admitted to the attempted murder and three charges of carrying an axe, a scalpel and two darts.

She denied a charge of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts. However, Judge Mrs Justice Lambert said there remained a terrorist motivation to the attack.

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