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Man, 21, jailed for 15 years after plotting terror attack at Taylor Swift concert

The Austrian citizen, known as Beran A, was found guilty on Thursday of charges relating to a plot to attack the Eras Tour concert in Vienna

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A 21-year-old Austrian man has been found guilty of plotting a jihadist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in August 2024.
A 21-year-old Austrian man has been found guilty of plotting a jihadist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in August 2024. Picture: Getty

By Chay Quinn

A 21-year-old Austrian man has been found guilty of plotting a jihadist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in August 2024.

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The Austrian citizen, known as Beran A due to the nation's privacy rules, was found guilty on Thursday of charges relating to a plot to attack the Eras Tour concert.

He has been jailed for 15 years.

The jihadi earlier told a court in Wiener Neustadt that he was sorry before they retired to consider their verdict.

The lengthy tour's Austrian leg was cancelled as a result of the plot - shortly before they were due to take place as the Ernst Happl Stadium.

Beran A had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State and had unsuccessfully tried to purchase weapons illegally - including a machine gun and a hand grenade.

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Austrian authorities caught Beran A after reportedly being tipped off by the CIA.

Two suspected extremists were arrested in Austria shortly before the attacks were due to take place.

Law enforcement found chemical ingredients consistent with those to make bombs in the flat where two people were arrested.

Approximately 65,000 fans were expected to attend each of the cancelled gigs as part of the European leg of Swift's record-breaking Eras Tour - which still managed to become the highest-grossing tour of all time.

Beran A and another 21-year-old, Arda K, from Slovakia, went on trial for being part of an IS cell.

Arda K was not involved in the plot on the Taylor Swift concert.