12 Dec Man appears in court charged with Preparing for Acts of Terrorism
A 22-year old man from Luton has been found guilty of Terrorism Offences after unknowingly confessing to an undercover police officer his plan to flee to Syria and fight for ISIS.
Between November 2015 and April 2016, Mubashir Jamil began a chain of online messages seeking a contact willing to help him join ISIS, however found himself confessing to a covert anti-terrorism officer online. Despite the initial desire that Jamil expressed to fulfil a suicide attack, he had changed his mind in favour of travelling to Syria and joining the Jihadists.
Jamil had booked a ticket to Turkey in April 2016 in the hopes of crossing the border into Syria, however his house was raided shortly before his departure from the UK and he was apprehended.
The jury heard how Jamil had planned to travel to Syria in order to be ‘Exorcised of the Jin’, a supernatural creature which has been ‘talking to him’.
Jamil must serve a 6-year custodial sentence, part of which is to be spent in a secure mental facility for Schizophrenics. Doctor Bird said “Even though treatment is successful, he could still be a risk, he is not safe”.
The Defendant pleaded Not Guilty to one count of Preparing acts of terrorism, leading to a re-trial where he was subsequently found guilty. Sentencing Jamil, Judge Peter Rook QC commented “his crime was only in part explained by his mental health disorder” and that he was still “a dangerous offender”.
Jamil will serve further 11 years on license following his release.
