Alleged terror plotter just ‘flexing muscles’ in pro-ISIS chat

A court has heard how alleged terrorism plotter Sahayb Abu said he wanted to ‘hunt down’ gay people in the UK.

The 27-year-old told the Old Bailey he was just ‘flexing his muscles’ in a pro-ISIS chat group after the court heard that in a message posted to a private group on the encrypted Telegram app, Abu wrote that he had ‘panic attacks’ when he saw gay people, adding: “I need to hunt them down.”

The jury was read messages where Abu called Barack Obama the ‘LGBT president’ and called gay people ‘disgusting’. The accused has not denied sending the messages but said they did not represent his real views or intentions.

Abu is accused of planning a terror attack in the UK after being released from prison following a burglary sentence in March 2020, after buying a sword, knife, combat vest and gloves online.

Two of his half-brothers, Wail and Suleyman Aweys, are believed to have died after joining ISIS in Syria in 2015. Three more of his relatives were jailed for disseminating terrorist publications in January 2019.

Abu blamed his activity within the terrorist groups online as the result of boredom during lockdown, and told jurors he was ‘trolling’ when writing extremist comments on YouTube, including one saying that “Islam is for war, hostage taking, killing infidels, fighting tyranny, taking war booty, taking women of the enemy as concubines … don’t listen to those who tell you Islam means peace”.