A 20-year-old man in the UK who was under the scanner of security agencies after a trip to Pakistan has been convicted of sharing and possessing Islamist terrorist material. Shuja Gibraeel Mohsin was found guilty on Friday at the end of a two-week trial at the Old Bailey court in London and will be sentenced on August 14.
“Mohsin was stopped in January 2024 by Counter Terrorism officers at Heathrow airport as he returned to the UK from a trip to Pakistan," the Metropolitan Police said. He was allowed to go after his phone and other devices were examined.
"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 (ISIS),” the police said.
He was subsequently arrested in March 2024 when his computer was also seized. He was further arrested in July 2024 to be questioned by detectives about some of the material found on his devices, but he did not respond.
After being released on bail and further enquiries and examination of his devices, the CPS authorised charges against him in April last year.
An investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), London, uncovered Mohsin’s links to extreme Islamist groups.
The CTP investigators, who examined Mohsin’s phone, identified material of “particular concern”, including a bomb-making manual, as well as various ISIS execution videos that he had sent to an online contact.
“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," said Commander Helen Flanagan, head of CTP London.
“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," she said.
He was subsequently arrested in March 2024 when his computer was also seized. He was further arrested in July 2024 to be questioned by detectives about some of the material found on his devices, but he did not respond.
After being released on bail and further enquiries and examination of his devices, the CPS authorised charges against him in April last year.
An investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), London, uncovered Mohsin’s links to extreme Islamist groups.
The CTP investigators, who examined Mohsin’s phone, identified material of “particular concern”, including a bomb-making manual, as well as various ISIS execution videos that he had sent to an online contact.
“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," said Commander Helen Flanagan, head of CTP London.
“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," she said.
She appealed to parents and carers to be aware of what children in their care are doing on the internet, directing them to the force’s ‘Action Counters Terrorism Early’ website if there are concerns of radicalisation. “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,” added Flanagan.
This week, Mohsin was convicted 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.
He was also convicted of two counts of dissemination of terrorist material, contrary to section 2, TAC, 2006, in relation to Daesh execution videos he had shared with an online contact.
