UK: Brother of ISIS suicide bomber convicted for terror offences

(Sheffield) 24 year old dental student Mohammed Abbas Idris Awan, has been convicted  on a charge of engaging in conduct in preparation of a terrorist act on or before June 6, 2017 and two charges of possessing a document or record of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Awan, was arrested days after buying 500 ball bearings, and possessed extremist material advising how they could be used in home-made bombs. After police searched his house, they found 11 mobile phones, 16 USB sticks and seven computers which contained a vast amount of terrorism material.

The jury at Sheffield Crown Court took just four hours to find Awan guilty of all three charges after a trial which lasted over three weeks. After the verdict Awan’s mother Noor Jehan Baig, berated the  trial prosecutor  shouting: “You have put someone inside who is completely innocent. God will punish you.” And she then told the local paper:

“We will fight back. This is very unfair. It was his big brother that he had paid for. They should get the truth out.”. 

She was of course referring to his big brother Rizwan who  travelled from Manchester to Istanbul in May, 2015 and joined ISIS, he then carried out a suicide attack which killed 30 people in Iraq.

Funny enough, this view that Awan is an innocent man is mirrored amongst his Islamic neighbours: With Mohammed Yaqub stating to the press:

 “I am shocked, very, very shocked. I have known him all my life.That’s very, very bad. He was a very nice, educated young man. I have known him since he was a kid. The jury have not wasted any time have they?”

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This is the Sheffield student found guilty this afternoon of three terrorism offences including engaging in the preparation of an act of terrorism. https://t.co/iuB0ZB4Wk8 pic.twitter.com/aWBBpiJBTp

— Sarah Marshall (@SarahM_SYN) December 13, 2017

Mohammed Awan will be sentenced on Wednesday morning.