A United Kingdom court has convicted a man, Shuja Gibraeel Mohsin, for circulating and being in possession of Islamist terrorist material.

He will be sentenced on 14 August.

Mr Mohsin, 20, of Mitcham, was found guilty on 19 June, following a two-week trial at the Old Bailey, following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London.

The UK Metropolitan Police, in a statement on Friday, said Mr Mohsin was stopped in January 2024 by counterterrorism officers at the Heathrow airport as he returned to the UK from a trip to Pakistan.

Further examination by specialist officers carried out on Mr Mohsin’s “device, as well as a USB stick and they found evidence that Mohsin had been viewing material and joined various chat groups linked to extreme Islamist groups, including the Taliban, Hamas and Daesh,” the police said.

“As they examined his phone officers identified material of particular concern including a bomb-making manual, as well as various Daesh execution video that Mohsin had sent to an online contact.”

After investigations, the court on Friday convicted Mr Moshin of one count of possession of a document likely to be of use to a terrorist, contrary to section 58 Terrorism Act (TACT), 2000, relating to the bomb-making document. 

Mr Moshin was also convicted of two counts of dissemination of terrorist material, contrary to section 2, TAC, 2006 in relation to Daesh execution videos he shared with an online contact. 

The head of CTP London, Commander Helen Flanagan, said, “Our investigation showed that Mohsin was being drawn into extremist and terrorist material and ideologies from when he was only 14 or 15 years old. This is reflective of a growing trend and concern over children and young people being radicalised and accessing extremely dangerous and violent terrorist ideologies and material online.”

The CTP commander urged parents and guardians to be aware of their children’s activities on the internet and seek necessary help when they have concerns on their children’s activities on the internet.

“It’s vital that parents and carers are aware of what children are doing on the internet. I would implore you to have conversations, to be inquisitive about what your children are doing online, and if you have any concerns, then there is help available to you via the ACT Early website,” Mrs Flanagan said.

She added, “Otherwise, there are very clear and serious consequences for those who are involved in downloading or sharing terrorist content online, a reality that Mohsin is now facing.”