Teenage Isis supporter who encouraged girlfriend to behead her 'disbeliever' parents jailed
Sudesh Amman declared own wish to carry out a terror attack and said he had pledged allegiance to Isis
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A teenage Isis supporter who encouraged his girlfriend to behead her own parents has been jailed.
Sudesh Amman, 18, declared his own wish to carry out a terror attack and had stockpiled a combat knife, air gun and black flag at his family home in London.
He was jailed for three years and four months for disseminating terrorist material and collecting information useful for terror attacks after police found a stash of bomb-making manuals and other propaganda.
Amman smiled and waved at the public gallery in the Old Bailey after being sentenced on Monday.
Judge Mark Lucraft QC said he was just 17 when he started collecting the material, calling the crimes a “very concerning series of offences”.
Counter-terror police and armed officers arrested Amman in May, less than 24 hours after starting an investigation into his online activities.
They were alerted by a Dutch blogger who identified extremist material in a chat on the encrypted Telegram messaging app, which has been favoured by Isis propagandists.
There was a photo of a knife and two guns on top of a black Islamist flag, with the caption “armed and ready April 3” overlaid in Arabic.
The blogger believed the same person had posted a YouTube link to a pro-gay rights speaker at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, the court heard.
Acting Commander Alexis Boon, head of the Met Police Counterterrorism Command, said: “My officers rapidly identified Amman as the person who sent the photo, then acted quickly to locate and arrest him. They recovered a plethora of evidence which not only proved Amman’s criminality but demonstrated the worrying extent of his terrorist mind set.”
Forensic specialists recovered in excess of 349,000 media files from Amman’s laptop, mobile phone and other digital devices, including manuals on combat techniques, knife-fighting and bomb-making.
The North West London College student jotted down how to make explosives and outlined his “goal” to be a martyr in a notebook, the court heard.
Mr Boon said the teenager had a “fierce interest in violence and martyrdom”.
“His fascination with dying in the name of terrorism was clear in a notepad we recovered from his home,” he added. “Amman had scrawled his ‘life goals’ in the notepad and top of the list, above family activities, was dying a martyr and going to ‘Jannah’ - the afterlife.
“It’s not clear how Amman became radicalised but it is apparent from his messages that it had been at least a year in development. Whatever the circumstances, this case is a reminder of the need to be vigilant to signs of radicalisation and report it.”
He posted al-Qaeda propaganda on a family WhatsApp group, exposing siblings as young as 11 to graphic material.
In online chats, Amman told his girlfriend and a friend of his hatred for “kuffars” (non-believers), his allegiance to Isis and his wish to carry out a terror attack. In one message he even encouraged his girlfriend to behead her own “kuffar parents”.
Officers found that Amman had sent similarly extremist messages to member of his family via a Whatsapp group, including one in which he told them “radicalising is not wasting time”.
Amman had also shared several videos depicting graphic violence by Isis via Skype.
Prosecutor Kelly Brocklehurst said: “The defendant had discussed with his family, friends and girlfriend his strong and often extreme views on jihad, the kuffar, and his desire to carry out a terrorist attack.
”Much of his fascination with conducting an attack was focused on using a knife but reference was also made to committing acid attacks on mopeds.
“The Crown contends that the defendant's interest in Islamic extremism and Daesh (Isis) in particular is more than a mere immature fascination with the taboo and with graphic violence. He is clearly someone with sincerely held and concerning ideological beliefs which motivate him to collect and disseminate such material.
"For example, he is seen telling his girlfriend in online chat how he has declared a pledge to Isis and wishes to purge society and carry out acid attacks. Elsewhere he is seen telling her he prefers the idea of a knife attack over use of bombs.“
When searching the home where Amman lived with his mother and younger siblings, detectives recovered the knife and BB gun from the Telegram photo, which had been painted black to look like a pistol.
The science and maths student had previous convictions for possession of an offensive weapon and cannabis.
Amman entered guilty pleas to six charges of possession and seven of disseminating terrorism documents. He denied three charges, which were ordered to lie on court file.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said “a number of vulnerable people associated with Amman are receiving ongoing safeguarding support”, which may include deradicalisation work.