A boy spoke about blowing up an orphanage online and made remarks described as "abhorrent" by a district judge.
The teenager shared extreme right-wing views online, talked about carrying out a school shooting and wrote a number of suicide notes, the court heard.
The boy, from Darlington and who is now aged 14, had previously admitted to three charges of possessing a terrorist publication at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in January.
Teesside Live reports that he was just 13 when he downloaded the Anarchist's Cookbook, about how to make plastic explosives and a document about Middle Eastern bomb designs.
The boy has now been spared jail and given a 12-month "high intensity" referral order and is one of the youngest people to be convicted of terror offences in the UK.
Prosecutor Jane Stansfield said Durham Constabulary were alerted after social media reports that an online user was "planning on blowing up an orphanage". The court heard how the teen had made contact with other far-right extremists on different online platforms and had taken a keen intertest in the Columbine shooting.
The prosecutor said the boy had made repeated searches about the 1999 US school shooting and had even used images of the two killers as his profile picture on a communications app. Ms Stansfield said the young teenager often used "racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic language" and had bought a Confederate flag, which is linked in the US to white supremacist groups.
Pictures were also uncovered of the teen posing in front of it whilst wearing camouflaged clothing and a half-skeleton face mask. And an image was recovered of him making a Nazi salute.
Other searches by the teenager included whether it "was illegal to be a neo-Nazi" and a copy of Mein Kampf had been downloaded. The court heard how the boy had always had an interest in the military which had morphed into right-wing extremism, with him first having downloaded a picture of Adolph Hitler aged 11.
Before he was sentenced the teen told the judge his extremist views had developed over time, saying "I turned into something that was not good". He also said he was "100% sure" he would not reoffend and agreed that he knew this difference between online bravado and reality.
Stephen Andrews, mitigating, said the boy had told him he was "so stupid" and insisted he would or could never carry out any of the attacks he discussed online. Mr Andrews said: "Before the court is a very complex young man showing signs both of extreme naivety and vulnerability whilst perhaps at the same time one might see elements of sophistication and perhaps ideas and access to information one would not normally associate with someone of his age.”
He outlined how the boy's past traumatic experiences and bullying had led to him becoming "isolated" and through what he accessed online had gained “a sense if having an identity and being able to identify with this group becomes something more”.
Senior District Judge and Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said during mitigation: “It’s absolutely clear to me there would be no debate about it if he was 18, 19, 20, custody would be the only option for this case.” The judge said the boy had no formal autism diagnosis but displayed traits associated with the condition.
Judge Goldspring decided that the boy, who hoped to go to university, was not "dangerous" in the law's eyes and the best chance of rehabilitation came if he carried on his education.
Although he did note during sentencing that: "Just about every minority receives your vitriol and the terminology you used was disgusting, concerning and abhorrent in equal measure."
He imposed a 12-month referral order in which the teen must work with the Youth Offending Service. The judge took into account his guilty pleas, that he had not offended since his arrest last year.
He had also not bought any ingredients or weapons or staked out a school to attack. After the case Detective Superintendent Matt Davison from Counter Terrorism Policing North East urged the public to report if they were worried about extremist views expressed by others.
He said: "We know it can seem like a big step to share your worries but in many cases the right support will come through education and health professionals and there isn't a need for further police involvement. The key, however, is to report your concerns early so we can agree the appropriate support before the situation escalates into something more serious, or offences are committed."
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