The Kundby case was a 2016 plan to bomb two schools in Denmark, including a Jewish school in Copenhagen. The plan was made by a 15-year-old Danish girl from
Kundby
Kundby is a small town, with a population of 706 (1 January 2025),BY3: Population 1. Ja ...
,
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
named Natascha Colding-Olsen. The
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
found chemicals to create a bomb in her home in Kundby.
Background
15-year-old Natascha Colding-Olsen planned to build a bomb to blow up two schools in Denmark: Sydskolen in Fårevejle (near
Holbæk
Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the County seat, seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 30,903 (1 January 2025).Carolineskolen, a Jewish school in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. The plotter was 17 at the time of her trial. An American captain from Iraq warned Denmark, which led to detention of the girl and a 24-year-old Turkish man. The plotter, a recent convert to Islam, wrote on her Facebook page of her desire to help convert more Danish people to Islam and joined a
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
page for
ISIS
Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
supporters. Colding-Olsen was described as having undergone a rapid transformation, changing within a few months from a teenager interested in clothes and boys, into a young woman interested in fighting a holy war. She told the court that she became interested because Islamist ideas and ISIS were "exciting".
The Turkish man was not charged in the Kundby plot due to insufficient evidence against him, but in early 2017, when 25 years old, he received a prison sentence, lost his
Danish citizenship
The primary law governing nationality of Denmark is the Danish Citizenship Act (), which came into force on 27 May 1950. Regulations apply to the entire Danish Realm, which includes the country of Denmark itself, the Faroe Islands, and Greenlan ...
(he had been a
dual national
Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one country under its nationality and citizenship law as a national or citizen of that country. There is no ...
of Turkey and Denmark) and was banned for life from visiting Denmark after being convicted of joining the terror organization ISIS during trips to Syria. He was only the second person to lose his Danish citizenship due to terror-related charges.
History
Arrest and detention
On 13 January 2016 police found bomb-making chemicals in the home of the plotter on Trønningevej in
Kundby
Kundby is a small town, with a population of 706 (1 January 2025),BY3: Population 1. Ja ...
. Colding-Olsen had not succeeded in making a bomb. The plotter was arrested at 12:22
CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
. The
court
A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
in
Holbæk
Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the County seat, seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 30,903 (1 January 2025).
Legal proceedings
On 17 February 2017, charges of terrorism were levied against the girl. She was further charged with violence after she stabbed a pedagogue in the stomach with a glass splinter from a mirror while in detention. The public prosecutor demanded Colding-Olsen be held in custody indefinitely.
The case started on 19 April 2017. The judgement on the issue of guilt was moved to 16 May 2017 after police found a letter in her prison cell from a man convicted of terrorism. She was sentenced to six years in prison on 18 May 2017.
The public prosecutor appealed the sentence, demanding a custodial sentence without a definite time limit, stating she was too dangerous to be part of society.
Retslægerådet
Retslægerådet ("the council of coroners") is a Danish institution under the Ministry of Justice (Denmark). Its job is to guide the authority body on medical questions in legal cases. The council advised up to 2000 times in 2006. Most of their cas ...
(Danish Justice Physician Council) agreed with the public prosecutors. On 27 November 2017 Natascha Colding-Olsen received her final sentence of eight years in prison on account of planning of terrorism and physical violence (''legemsangreb'') for
stabbing
A stabbing is penetrating trauma, penetration or rough contact with a sharp or pointed object at close range. ''Stab'' connotes purposeful action, as by an Assassination, assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself ...
a pedagogue.
On 10 January 2019, she was additionally sentenced to 40 days in prison for threats against her former mentor during a phone conversation. On 8 May 2019, she was sentenced to 20 further days for a bribery attempt against a police guard who Colding-Olsen had wanted to give her a phone.
See also
*
Terrorism in Europe
history of terrorism in Europe. This has often been linked to nationalist and separatist movements (separating countries), while other acts have been related to politics (including anarchism, far-right and far-left extremism), religious extremi ...
*
List of terrorist incidents in Denmark
This is a list of major incidents in Denmark where an organized group has attempted an act of violence targeting innocents. Dates in boldface are attacks that were carried out, dates without boldface are the date of arrest in plots that were not ...