Daesh supporters found guilty at Old Bailey
Two men and two women from Walsall have been convicted of Syria related terrorism offences following a 14-month investigation.
Ayman Shaukat, aged 27, from Pargeter Street, was found guilty of helping to facilitate a network to enable people to travel to Syria and engage in terrorism, following a three week trial at the Old Bailey in London.
One of the men who is believed to have travelled to Syria is Sajid Aslam, who is suspected to be fighting with terrorists.
His wife, Lorna Moore, 33, was also found guilty of failing to disclose information about her husband’s planned travel to the conflict zone.
Fellow defendant Alexander Nash, aged 22, of Bentley Road, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to preparing for acts of terrorism, whilst a second woman, Kerry Thomason, 24, had also previously pleaded guilty to assisting her husband, Isaiah Siadatan, to travel to Syria and engage in acts of terrorism.
He is also believed to have joined Daesh with Aslam and another man known to the group, Jacob Petty.
Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale, who leads on counter-terrorism across the West Midlands, said: “This was a complex and protracted police investigation by a small team of dedicated officers from the force’s CTU.
“Over a 14 month period a series of co-ordinated searches have been conducted in the Walsall area to gather evidence and disrupt activity, culminating in the prosecution case presented during this trial.
“I would like to thank the communities of Walsall for their patience and support shown to our officers while the investigation was on-going. Officers also worked closely with partner agencies in the town to safeguard vulnerable children who may have been put at risk if they had travelled to the area.”
Following the arrests officers seized over 1000 exhibits from home searches, including a number of mobile phones and laptops containing travel plans and messages.
Officers also recovered ideological material from Shaukat’s address including a book, ‘39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad’ and other such publications. A search of his address also recovered a flag associated with the Islamic terror group.
