Manchester Arena attack didn't happen, chicken shop worker accused of plotting drone attack tells court

'I didn't believe it had happened and people were saying yes it did,' Hisham Muhammad tells Old Bailey

Police walk past a huge message of support following the Manchester attack, outside the Manchester Arena Complex in Manchester on May 27, 2017 (AFP/Getty Images)

A chicken shop worker accused of plotting to attack the British army with a drone, told a court he does not believe the 2016 Manchester Arena terror attack took place/

Hisham Muhammad is accused of collecting and building an assortment of weapons including a tomahawk, a machete and bear claws in his three bedroom home in Bury, Greater Manchester.

It is also alleged that the 25-year-old Chicken Cottage worker also attempted to build a prototype drone attachment that used lollipop sticks to drop projectiles on targets.

London's Old Bailey heard that he researched police and military bases, including the Castle Armoury Barracks in his hometown, which he visited before his arrest last June.

Counter terror police apprehended the 25-year-old after his landlord began to get suspicious about his activities, the court heard.

Mr Muhammad denied engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

His interest in Isis after the Manchester Arena attack, which left 22 people dead, was innocent, he claimed.

"I wanted find out the truth of what actually happened” he told the court. “I didn't believe it had happened and people were saying yes it did."

Asked if he found sufficient evidence for the reality of the attack, he replied: "No. I watched two different videos of what was happening and each person was saying something different. I thought it was the Government trying to take away people's rights."

Mr Muhammad also claimed Isis was "created by the American Government to take away the rights of Muslims".

He said he did not regard himself as a "gullible person" and technology could be used to make "anything look real".

He told jurors he liked to listen to Islamic music, and looked at a video entitled My Revenge "out of curiosity".

Questioned on his views on radical Islam, he said: "It's basically barbaric. I don't think it's right. Radical in terms of Islamic State, I don't agree with it, killing of innocent people."

He went on to tell jurors that, when not at work, he liked to "challenge" himself by designing things like a "coconut hammer", although he denied they were in preparation for an attack.

The Bermudan national admitted making £8,000 from a bogus online escort agency scam - but said most of the money was sent overseas to his family.

Muhammad’s cousin, Faisal Abu Ahmad, 24, has pleaded not guilty to failing to alert authorities of the alleged attack plan.

Additional reporting by Press Association.