Terrorist who helped Cardiff teenager join ISIS in Syria found by police looking to buy weapons

A convicted terrorist, jailed for instigating and helping a Cardiff teenager to leave his home and join ISIS fighting in Syria, is back behind bars after creating fake social media accounts and email addresses -mail to search for weapons on the Internet. Adeel Ulhaq also joined a WhatsApp group called “Pakistan Arms and Ammunition” and asked one of its members if he had a gun to sell.

Ulhaq was sentenced to five years in prison at London's Old Bailey in February 2016 after encouraging Aseel Muthana, 17, to leave Cardiff and follow in the footsteps of his older brother Nasser by becoming an Isis fighter. He was sentenced to an additional 12 months in prison for financing terrorism. Nottinghamshire Live reports that shortly after being released from prison for these offenses he created numerous social media and email accounts under false names and began searching for weapons. In sending the 29-year-old back to prison, a judge told him he was “an offender of particular concern” with “an interest in guns, an interest in fighting and an interest in extreme views.”

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Ulhaq was one of three men jailed in 2016 for helping Muthan travel to Syria by researching his travel routes, arranging flights to Cyprus and purchasing items such as passports and military clothing. Ulhaq had extensive telephone contact with the teenager and gave him extensive advice on how to contact other jihadists when he reached southern Turkey on his way to Syria. Muthana, who studied at Fitzalan High School, ended up making the journey and joining Isis.

Ulhaq was released from his sentence in May 2019 with a series of conditions designed to control and monitor his online activities, but soon after began using email addresses and Facebook accounts under false names, including “Gemma Oliver » and “Jamie Lewis”. He also acquired a cell phone which he had not informed the authorities about. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here

The new offense came to light when police visited the defendant's home in January last year and recovered a phone hidden under a chest of drawers in his mother's bedroom. Nadeem Holland, prosecuting, told Nottingham Crown Court: “Examination of this mobile phone revealed that the accused was a member of a WhatsApp group called 'Pakistan Arms and Ammunition' and there was a conversation on during which the accused asked another member if he had any firearms. sale.

“Internet searches were carried out including 'remote gun transactions', 'secret police' and 'can I buy an air rifle in the UK?'” A number of documents had also been downloaded, including a sales brochure of rifles for sale in Pakistan, and software had also been installed to allow highly encrypted messages to be sent and to allow his IP address to be masked. He did not inform the police that he was using them for purposes that the police wanted to know about after his conviction. These were deliberate and prolonged offenses and efforts were made to hide the phones.”

Adeel Ulhaq, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, had already pleaded guilty to five separate charges of failing to comply with notification requirements under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2008 when he returned to the dock for sentencing. Judge Nirmal Shant KC, who jailed him for 33 months, said: “You are an offender of particular concern. Overall, you had an interest in guns, an interest in combat, and an interest in extreme opinions. These were persistent and egregious violations of your terms. “

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