A schoolboy and two other men were today found guilty of terrorism charges after a trial at London’s Blackfriars Crown Court.
Hammaad Munshi, 18, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire – found guilty of possessing a guide to making napalm – is the youngest person to be convicted under the Terrorism Act. Co-defendants Aabid Khan, 23, and Sultan Muhammad, 23, were convicted of possessing documents useful to terrorists.
Munshi, Khan and Muhammad were part of an online cell that promoted “violent jihad” and encouraged the killing of “non-believers”, referred to by the Crown as a “worldwide conspiracy” to “wipe-out” non-Muslims.
Khan, whom the court heard was a "committed and active promoter of Islamic terrorism", recruited Mushi when the teenager was just 15. Described by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as a “terrorism facilitator with international connections” Khan used the internet to groom new recruits and arranged travel to Pakistan for terrorism training.
Khan was arrested at Manchester Airport on June 6, 2006 on his return from Pakistan after police found a cyber “encyclopaedia” of information glorifying terrorism in his luggage. Crown counsel Simon Denison said:
“[The seized material] showed he was dedicated to the pursuit of a violent holy war against anyone, any person or any country which did not believe in his religious faith."
The police investigation following Khan’s arrest yielded so much computer data – over 33 hard drives – that the CPS missed the court’s deadline for disclosing all vital incriminating evidence. The jury were therefore unaware of all of Khan’s extremist contacts.
Khan’s inadmissible connections included his mentor relationship with Mohammed Atif Siddique, the "wannabe suicide bomber" sentenced to eight years in prison by a Scottish court in 2007. Khan’s connections to Younes Tsouli, 23 and Waseem Mughal, 24 – both convicted for inciting acts of terrorism by Woolich Crown Court in 2007 – were also ruled out of evidence.
The three men are being held in custody awaiting sentencing tomorrow.
