THE ring-leader of the two 15-year-old boys who planned to carry out a shooting at his school was motivated by what prosecutors described as a "far right-wing ideology".

During his trial, jurors were told how, in April 2017, the teenager was suspended from school after setting up a fake Instagram account on which he posted an image of the face of one of his teachers superimposed on to Nazi images.

On another account, he had shared images of beheadings and other shootings, his then-girlfriend told the court during her evidence.

It was also accepted that he had regularly made searches for information on the Columbine killers and looked up anti-Semitic content on YouTube.

Arguably the clearest indications for the boy's motivations were found in a diary which was recovered from his home following his arrest in October 2017.

In it, the boy professed his "love" for serial killers and wrote: "Sorry if this is found I have committed one of the worst atrocities in British history or I killed myself."

Another passage read: "Everyone is filthy and deserve to be shot, including me. I'll play the role of god and decide who a let live and die."

Elaborating on that intention, he wrote in the diary: "I have a plan, a great f****** plan."

Referring to carrying out a shooting with his then-girlfriend, he said: "I'll make some explosives then we'll find a way back to Northallerton and we'll begin our assault on that f****** school."

In other entries, the boy described the human race as a "vile species which needs to die out" and humanity itself as "a curse and a burden".

One extract reads: "We need to aid natural selection and help forward our species. Right now, it's f*****, it's all downhill. I love murderers."

A picture of the book was shown to the court with the words "Helter Skelter" written on the cover, a supposed nod to notorious murderer Charles Manson's idea of an apocalyptic war arising from racial tensions.

Jurors were also read a passage where he claimed to "love and hate" the ideology of Adolf Hitler and supported the "weaning out of the weak".

The boy had told police officers that he had written certain bits to "annoy people" and fit in with the supposed "dark, morbid humour" of his classmates.

But Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, claimed that the existence of the diary demonstrates that the boy's "murderous intentions were real", adding that the journal acted as evidence of his "attitudes and of his homicidal intent".