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Terror trial: Men who helped teen go to Syria jailed | Terror trial: Men who helped teen go to Syria jailed |
(35 minutes later) | |
Three men who helped a Cardiff teenager travel to Syria to fight with Islamic extremists have been jailed. | Three men who helped a Cardiff teenager travel to Syria to fight with Islamic extremists have been jailed. |
Kristen Brekke, 20, from Cardiff, Forhad Rahman, from Gloucestershire, and Adeel Ulhaq, from Nottinghamshire, were found guilty of helping in the preparation of an act of terrorism. | |
Rahman and Ulhaq, both 21, were each sentenced to five years, while Brekke was given four years and six months. | |
Ulhaq was also sentenced to an additional year for funding terrorism. | |
The Old Bailey heard they helped Aseel Muthana, 19, join so-called Islamic State in February 2014 and that they all shared the same "highly-radical ideology". | |
The court was told Rahman and Ulhaq had also expressed a desire to follow Muthana to Syria to fight with militants. | |
Sentencing the men, Judge Rebecca Poulet said: "You Rahman and Ulhaq were waiting in the wings to assist anyone willing to travel to fight." | |
She told Brekke his sentence was lower because there was no extremist material found on his computer and there was no suggestion he himself intended to travel to Syria. | |
He was "perhaps naive," she added. | |
Propaganda video | |
The court had heard how Aseel Muthana's older brother Nasser Muthana, who he idolised, had previously travelled to war-torn Syria with four other young men from Cardiff. | |
Nasser later achieved "notoriety" when he and other young men made a propaganda video for IS called There Is No life Without Jihad which was released in June 2014, the jury was told. | Nasser later achieved "notoriety" when he and other young men made a propaganda video for IS called There Is No life Without Jihad which was released in June 2014, the jury was told. |
Brekke, along with Rahman, of Cirencester, and Ulhaq, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, helped Aseel travel to Syria three months after his brother. | Brekke, along with Rahman, of Cirencester, and Ulhaq, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, helped Aseel travel to Syria three months after his brother. |
Brekke, who worked with Aseel in an ice cream cafe, helped his friend obtain a new passport as his had been confiscated by his parents after his brother left the country, the court was told. | |
He also bought and stored combat clothing for him at his Grangetown home. | He also bought and stored combat clothing for him at his Grangetown home. |
Rahman paid for his flight, and Ulhaq provided him with tactical advice on equipment he would need. | |
They were both in contact with Aseel online. | They were both in contact with Aseel online. |
All three men were found guilty of the preparation of terrorist acts while Ulhaq was also convicted of entering into or becoming concerned in a terrorist funding arrangement. | All three men were found guilty of the preparation of terrorist acts while Ulhaq was also convicted of entering into or becoming concerned in a terrorist funding arrangement. |
The court heard Ulhaq also paid for ammunition for IS, having arranged the transfer of funds through coded messages. | |
He had a Twitter account called Guilty Muslim which appeared to be a light hearted way of fundraising for charities. | |
But it showed support for the terror group and in private messages he discussed his plans to travel to Syria to fight. | |
The Charity Commission later froze his account and paid the money he had raised to a suitable registered charity. |