Overview

• Felix Winter pleaded guilty to a breach of the peace and a Terrorism Act offence at the High Court in Glasgow in February and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment on July 30, 2025.
• Between June 2022 and July 2023, he drew up detailed plans for cyanide synthesis, handgun fabrication, bomb placements and reconnaissance at his Edinburgh high school.
• Court records show Winter spent more than 1,000 hours in a pro-Nazi Discord group where he was groomed into believing violence was justified as revenge for bullying.
• He was referred to the UK Prevent counter-terror programme four times between 2022 and 2025, but no sustained measures halted his plotting before police stopped him under the Terrorism Act in July 2023.
• Police Scotland praised the swift, complex investigation and called for enhanced early-intervention strategies to detect and disrupt lone-actor threats in schools.