Sulky terrorist lobs cup at cop
A convicted terrorist hurled a plastic cup at the police officers who put him behind bars and vowed: ‘One day we will be standing in a bigger court than this.’
IT technician Anas Abdalla, 26, vented his fury from the dock of the Old Bailey after he was found guilty of trying to smuggle himself out of the UK to join Islamic State.
Abdalla was secretly recorded alongside Gabriel Rasmus, 29, by an undercover officer as they plotted to lay down their lives for the terror group, branding Europeans were ‘worse than cattle.’
They were arrested on 3 April last year after they were found hiding in the back of an articulated truck at Dover as it prepared to board a ferry.
They were with two others – Mahamuud Diini, 26, and a failed asylum seeker named Khan who was never prosecuted for terror offences.
Rasmus admitted plotting to join Islamic State forces but Abdalla claimed he simply wanted to leave the country and was not involved in terrorist activity.
Diini was cleared of plotting to join Islamic State by a jury at the Old Bailey earlier this year.
Abdalla claimed his life in the UK was made ‘intolerable’ by the Counter Terrorism Unit of the West Midlands Police.
He said he chose the unorthodox mode of transport because despite being a British passport holder, he was unable to travel by conventional means.
He claimed he had only wanted to travel to the continent so he could do research for the tyre business he was hoping to launch.
A jury today (Thurs) convicted him by a majority of 11 to one after 19 and a half hours of deliberations of one count of preparation of terrorist acts.
Abdalla slowly shook his head in disbelief as the verdict was read out at the before bowing his head as the judge thanked the jury for their service.
Then as he was led to the cells he grabbed the cup he had been sipping water from and tried to hurl it over the plexiglass screen at the officers from the Counter Terrorism Unit.
But the cup fell short and bounced in the dock as the terrorist was taken away.
Abdalla was born in Mogadishu in Somalia and came to the UK as a child.
He was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2011 and is now a British passport holder, but had been under investigation for some time before his arrest.
In one recorded conversation, Abdulla complained about his job in IT because it forced him to work alongside non-Muslims.
In another he referred to Europeans as ‘like cattle, worse than cattle’.
In a conversation about Europe, he said: ‘What the hell is here? There’s nothing here!’
He also made multiple references to ‘there’, ‘going there’ and ‘being out there’.
‘Muhamed is clear and positive that such references were to Syria, going to Syria and being out there.
‘It was in the context of those efforts by Rasmus to go to Syria that Muhammed met Abdalla,’ said Mr Atkinson.
Rasmus expressed support for Islamic State and asked Muhamed for help travelling to Syria during a meeting in September 2014.
He also revealed previous failed attempts to travel there and claimed he had a contact in Turkey.
On 29 March last year Abdalla told Muhamed they were waiting for ‘zero hour’.
Muhamed met Rasmus, Abdalla and Diini on 2 April after their failed attempt to leave the country.
On 3 April officers watched as all three drove to an industrial estate in London before getting on board the HGV lorry.
The lorry was inspected at Dover at around 7.45am on 3 April 2015 after officials spotted that the rear door were not cable tied and decided to inspect the open trailer.
Behind a row of blue drums they saw Rasmus, Abdalla and Dinni lying on the floor, along with failed asylum seeker Khan who was never charged with terrorism offences.
Rasmus was carrying a rucksack containing outdoor gear, a torch, a field telescope, a compass, a phone wrapped in tin foil, a South African passport and a UK Residency card.
Abdalla also had a rucksack as well as ID documents in cash in Sterling and Euros.
But he denied he was headed for Syria, claiming instead he just wanted to go to Germany to research his tyre business.
He had hoped to start a bespoke tyre business using contacts in Germany, the court heard, but said as he was born in Mogadishu he was repeatedly targeted by border officers.
On 7 April 2011 he and a friend were stopped at Dover for over four hours on their way to Germany while their car and belongings were searched.
‘I had a business plan in relation to tyres, I wasn’t working but I had some savings from my student finance – I was working part-time in Ikea.’
‘I just wanted to explore and understand the tyre business a bit more, because with tyres there are so many different types.
‘I understand the different types and I have experience, but I wanted to assess my different options, then I came back to the UK to sort out my finances.’
Nearly two months later on 31 May, Abdalla was stopped again at Birmingham Airport on his way to Dusseldorf via Zurich.
He had chosen the roundabout route because it was the cheapest ticket, the Old Bailey heard.
When asked if he knew Dusseldorf was a popular stop-off for Islamists on their way to Kabul, he replied: ‘The biggest disaster is that I was born in Mogadishu – Mogadishu is a hot spot for many things.’
Abdalla said he had already booked storage space before leaving as he planned on buying between 500 and 1000 sets of tyres.
As a result of the three hour search, he missed his flight and his ticket was non-transferable.
‘I was just going mad, I just thought it was so unfair. Imagine if you had missed your flight because you got stopped by police and the police had no obligation whatsoever to put you on another flight.’
He added: ‘I wasn’t told I could apply for compensation.
‘The hint that I got from [the police] was that they were happy not to see me on the flight.’
Abdalla, of Fox Hollies Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, was convicted of preparation of terrorist acts.
Diini, of Coventry Road, Small Heath, Birmingham, was earlier cleared of the same charge.
Rasmus, of Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham, admitted trying to join Islamic State.
Abdalla and Rasmus will be sentenced at a date to be fixed.
