A 16-year-old who helped to prepare a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna last year has avoided prison. Mohamed A was given an 18-month suspended sentence under juvenile criminal law in Berlin on Tuesday. The Syrian, who prosecutors said was radicalised by Islamic State (IS) propaganda on the internet, was 14 when he assisted the would-be attacker by translating bomb-making instructions from Arabic and establishing contact with an IS member. Swift's three sold-out gigs at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium were called off in August last year by concert organisers after the planned attack was uncovered by police.

The court confirmed that the teenager made a full confession to the charges. Under a suspended sentence, convicts must meet certain conditions to prevent being sent to prison. Three other teenagers have also been detained by Austrian authorities over the plot. Investigations continue into the main suspect, Beran A, a 20-year-old Austrian arrested just before the concerts following a tip from the CIA, who disclosed that the plotters planned to kill a significant number of concert-goers. Reports indicate that Beran A contemplated an earlier attack in Dubai in March 2024 but changed his mind at the last moment. Swift expressed her gratitude to authorities, stating that they helped save lives by revealing the threat.