19-year-old Alina Burns was found guilty by a court in Bristol of attempting murder in August 2025 outside a barbershop. She tried to behead 27-year-old Mohammed Mahmoodi with an axe, an act the judge deemed extremely dangerous. Burns denied having terrorist intentions, but the judge disagreed and imposed a sentence of at least 15 years and six months.
Sarah Robbins from the anti-terror unit of the police in South West England described the attack as an “extreme stroke of luck” since it did not cost any lives. Mahmoodi, the victim, managed to wrest the weapon from the attacker before she could strike again. He reported having a scar that reminds him of the incident every day.
Investigators found a copy of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” as well as other racist literature and instructions for making explosives in Burns’ apartment. Judge Justice Lambert stated, “I have no doubt that you are a dangerous offender and remain deeply entrenched in your abnormal belief system.”
Burns’ defense attorney pointed to the defendant’s difficult childhood, having grown up in a family that lived without a stable home for years. A local report from 2017 documented how the family moved from hotel to hotel after losing their home due to flooding.
