Man found guilty of terrorism offences

A man who was found to have manuals of how to create 3D-printed firearms has been found guilty of terrorism offences.

Abdiwahid Abdulkadir Mohamed was stopped by counter terrorism officers under ‘schedule 7’ powers at Heathrow in September 2022, as he returned from Kenya.

Officers questioned him and examined his digital devices.

Mohamed was let on his way, but his devices kept and sent for further examination by specialist digital forensic officers within the Counter Terrorism Command.

Analysis found two separate telegram accounts, and revealed that Mohamed was a member of various extreme Islamist groups on the platform. A number of documents were also found that appeared to be instructions on how to create and build 3D-printed firearms.

Mohamed was arrested at his home address in January 2023 and officers seized another mobile phone in his possession. He was charged on 18 January 2023, with six counts of possessing documents likely to be useful for committing or preparing an act of terrorism (contrary to section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000).

He was found guilty of all six counts and is due to be sentenced at the same court on 3 December.

Acting Commander Gareth Rees, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “Mohamed was using a social media app to send himself and store instructions on how to make 3D-printed weapons. He tried to conceal what he was doing by using two anonymous accounts and storing the documents on the encrypted app’s servers, but this didn’t stop us from identifying what he was up to. The circulation of these kind of documents online is extremely harmful and anyone storing, or sharing this type of content can expect to be investigated and prosecuted as Mohamed was here.

“This investigation also came about as a result of a ‘schedule 7’ stop by officers at an airport. It shows just how valuable those powers are in helping us to identify and investigate potential terrorist activity and, ultimately, help keep the public safe.”