Boys deny 'Columbine murder plot'

Two teenagers have denied conspiring to blow up a school and a shopping centre on the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.

Matthew Swift, 18, of Denton, Greater Manchester, and a 16-year-old boy have pleaded not guilty to a conspiracy to murder persons unknown.

Both defendants appeared at Manchester Crown Court on Monday.

They are alleged to have made the plans to imitate the US school massacre between November 2007 and March 2009.

They also pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life and damage property between the same dates.

Swift and the younger defendant spoke only to confirm their names and enter pleas.

Both defendants were remanded in custody ahead of their trial, scheduled to begin on 1 September.

On 20 April 1999, disaffected students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, used bombs and firearms to kill 12 students and a teacher at Columbine before turning the guns on themselves.

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