A schoolboy recruited into a cell engaged in a “worldwide conspiracy” to kill non-Muslims became Britain’s youngest convicted terrorist on Monday.
Teenager Hammaad Munshi from Yorkshire in northern England, who was 16 when he was arrested, downloaded terrorist materials including guides for making napalm and grenades.
Now 18, Munshi was found guilty with two other men of possessing or making documents promoting terrorism. Material found in their possession included guidance for making lethal weapons, manuals on how to carry out assassinations and personal details of members of the royal family.
During a three-month trial at Blackfriars crown court in London, the prosecution accused the three of involvement in an al-Qaeda-inspired conspiracy to attack the West.
Munshi was leading a double life when he came to the attention of Leeds counter-terrorism unit. By day the teenager from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, whose grandfather is a respected Muslim scholar, was studying for his exams at Westborough high school.
But at home, stashed beneath his bed, he kept handwritten notes about his desire for martyrdom including the claim: “One who is not taking part in the battle nor has the sheer intention to die is in the branch of hypocrisy.”
It was a small find compared with the hoard of terrorist material police discovered he had accumulated through the Internet.
He had collected notes on the manufacture of grenades and napalm, and his PC contained videos and audio clips showing mujahidin fighting and al-Qaeda propaganda.
Co-defendant Aabid Khan, 23, a former burger bar worker from Bradford, recruited Munshi when he was 15 and served as his mentor.
Described as the “Mr Fix-it” of the cell, he had links to proscribed terrorist groups and ran an “online extremist support network” through which he hoped to recruit “a group of at least 12.”
He and Munshi phoned each other, swapped documents about “black powder explosives” and during an online chat discussed how to smuggle a sword through airport security.
Khan was detained when returning from Pakistan in June 2006. A routine stop and search of his luggage at Manchester airport yielded the largest library of computer files promoting terrorism seized by police.
Khan led officers to Munshi and, the third defendant found guilty yesterday. Sultan Muhammad, 23, Khan’s “right-hand man,” worked nights as a post office sorter and was found in possession of terrorism-related materials.
He and Khan, his cousin, talked regularly about killing non-Muslims and purchasing explosives.
The three were convicted of eight Terrorism Act offenses committed between Nov. 23, 2005, and June 20, 2006.
Khan and Muhammad were set to be sentenced yesterday.
Munshi will be sentenced at the Old Bailey next month.
Judge Timothy Pontius told Munshi that it was “inevitable” he would face jail.
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