‘Rappin’ jihadi bought knife to do gladiator moves in his bedroom’

An alleged terrorist claimed he spent the last of his unemployment benefits on a knife because he wanted to do ‘gladiator moves’ in his bedroom, a court heard.

Aspiring drill rapper Sahayb Abu, 27, bought the Persian blade as well as an 18-inch sword, body armour, and combat gear before his arrest last July 9.

He is said to have bought the weapons while plotting a terror attack throughout the first lockdown and sharing his views with brother his Muhamed Abu, 32.

Muhamed knew all about his sibling’s beliefs and was under a legal obligation to tell the authorities what he was up to but did not, jurors heard.

The pair were arrested following an operation involving the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command at their London addresses in July 2020.

Jurors heard Abu’s excuses for buying the weapons varied wildly, from needing a knife to fix to his father’s sink to thinking they could be butcher’s tools.

Abu told the court earlier that they were ‘props’ for parody rap videos he made as entertainment while unemployed at home during the coronavirus lockdown.

But at odds with his claims, he made enquiries about getting the Qama knife sharpened, the Old Bailey heard today (thurs).

Summing up the case prosecutor John McGuinness QC said the alleged jihadi claimed at one point he wanted to do ‘gladiator moves’ in his bedroom with the knife.

He denied buying it to inflict injury in an ISIS-inspired attack, but conceded it was a ‘ridiculous’ and ‘stupid’ purchase given his only source of income was Universal Credit.

By 3 July last year, the accused terrorist drained his bank account down to a balance of £1.13, the court heard.

The prosecutor said: ‘He said he watched squelchy and disgusting videos of pigs and lambs being cut up and it was after that that he bought the Qama knife.

‘Well yes, but the Qama knife isn’t a butcher’s tool. It is really a weapon, pure and simple, and a pretty lethal one at that. You may think the Qama knife has only one purpose – to injure people.

‘He actually rather struggled to provide you with a reason to buy it. He accepted he could have used the money for better things. He said at one point I would have used the knife for absolutely nothing. He said that is was cheap and that it looked cool.

‘He said he thought about doing gladiator moves in his bedroom with the knife.

‘When making an enquiry about the combat vest he said he couldn’t buy it until the 28th when he got paid, and it appears he got paid his Universal Credit on or around 28th. By close of business on 3 July, all that was left in his bank account to last him to the next Universal Credit was £1.13.

‘The combination of the Qama knife, combat vest, tradesmen’s knife, hat, balaclavas, all bought within a few days of each other, is that for Sahayb Abu these were quite significant purchases in terms of the financial disposal he had available to him. He spent an awful lot of the rather limited amount of money he had buying these items.

‘What possible reason could there be for Sahayb wanting the Qama knife sharpened?

‘It only has one purpose, and that’s to injure people.

‘Even Sahayb himself struggled to provide you with any credible reason for buying that knife, in fact he agreed that buying the knife was “stupid” and “ridiculous.” Well unless you’re using it to injure people, any other reason the prosecution agrees is stupid and ridiculous.’

Giving evidence, Sahayb later told jurors he bought another knife because he used to be a railway worker and wanted to replace one he had used while working on the tracks.

Referring to the claim Mr McGuinness added: ‘Except of course for the obvious point that between March and July last year he wasn’t working on the railways at all, he was unemployed, and his only source of income was Universal Credit.’

Jurors were asked to consider Sahayb’s ‘demeanour’ while he gave evidence from the witness box, and to reject his stories as ‘lies.’

His idea for a ‘parody’ rap persona called the ‘Masked Menace’ was a convenient excuse for ordering black balaclavas at the height of summer, the prosecutor said.

It was one of many business ideas Sahayb claimed to have been thrashing out during lockdown, which included launching a smoothie drinks business and a fragrance called ‘Pure Fumes’ with his brothers.

Mr McGuinness said: ‘He’s told you he wanted to be a rapper like this since the age of 16 when he didn’t do very well in his GCSEs.

‘You may think this is now 11 years down the line, if that was his hope and dream, it hasn’t materialised. He said his persona was called the Masked Menace.

‘Curiously you may think, if this is indeed what he was setting out to do between March and July, that although you’ve got lots and lots of chat of the two way and three way chat groups between the brothers… Is there a word about the posts, the intended career, anything to do with the Masked Menace?

‘After all the brothers did talk about things they wanted to do. There’s mention about the smoothie drinks business, there’s even mention of Suraaka’s proposed business to sell perfume and there was a discussion between the brothers as to an appropriate name, Pure Fumes I think was one, but a rap career, the Masked Menace? Nothing about that.

‘He didn’t suggest that there was any other mask in play other than a balaclava.

‘That is not an obvious purchase you make in the summer is it? Why did he buy those balaclavas? Although there are no images of rappers wearing balaclavas on his phone, there are images of other individuals wearing balaclavas.

‘What are clearly ISIS or extremist fighters wearing balaclavas, and also images of fighters, perhaps unsurprisingly because you see the guns they’re carrying, wearing combat vests or body armour.

‘What you don’t have on the phone are the images you might expect to see if Sahayb had been telling you the truth about body armour, balaclavas and the like.

Mohamed Abu, who stormed out of the dock earlier in the trial shouting at his brother as he gave evidence, did not give his own version of events.

Jurors were asked today not to ‘jump to the conclusion’ of his guilty because he had not given evidence.

Sahayb Abu, of Mayfield Road, Dagenham, Essex, denies preparation of terrorist acts under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

Muhamed Abu, of Doyle Road, South Norwood, southeast London, denies failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Abu was removed from the dock by security after calling the prosecutor a ‘p***k’ in a dramatic outburst.

In the middle of Mr McGuinness’ closing speech the older brother launched a foul-mouthed tirade against the lawyer from across the courtroom.

The prosecutor told jurors how Mohamed was caught putting up posters in 2017 of poppies and skulls headed: ‘Britain uses your tax money to kill Muslims in Muslim lands.’

He was stopped by police alongside Sahayb and his older half-brother Ahmed, a convicted terrorist, who joined him in displaying them on Ilford High Street in east London, jurors heard.

As the QC asked jurors to consider what the poster implied about Mohamed’s sentiments towards the UK, the suspect interrupted him to shout: ‘That was against the government, the government changed, that was against the government you pr**k.

‘I’ve got nothing against Britannia.’

Sahayb, 27, repeatedly told his brother to relax before shouting: ‘You’ve got autism.’

After the disturbance the older sibling was led down to the cells but returned to the dock following a short break.

Jurors were told by Judge Mark Dennis QC to ‘ignore’ the incident and asked to bear in mind that emotions often run high during trials.

The trial continues.
ends