A couple allegedly planned to carry out a terror attack with an improvised explosive device after bonding over their shared Islamic extremism on the Muslim dating website SingleMuslim.com.
The Old Bailey heard Monday that Munir Hassan Mohammed, 36, and Rowaida El-Hassan, 33, had shared videos of Islamic State jihadists beheading prisoners and recruiting children to the terror organisation on WhatsApp as their love blossomed.
Mohammed, an Eritrean national who was seeking asylum in the UK, was arrested in December 2016, along with University College London graduate El-Hassan following separate raids in Derbyshire and London. Both are charged with an offence under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 – preparation of terrorist acts.
It is alleged that the Eritrean had been radicalised after contacting Abubakr Kurdi on Facebook, a suspected Islamic State commander who has celebrated the terrorist attacks in Nice, Normandy, and Orlando and called for lone wolf attacks.
Jurors heard that by the time Mohammed had set up a dating profile to look for a wife, he had allegedly committed to carrying out a terrorist attack.
Qualified pharmacist El-Hassan, who was on SingleMuslim.com looking for “a man who fears Allah before anything else”, bonded with Mohammed, allegedly using her knowledge of chemicals to help Mohammed research bombmaking.
Counter-terror officers found bomb-making manuals and equipment, including the Islamic State’s favoured explosive, TATP, at Mohammed’s home in Derbyshire in the December raid. At a separate raid at El-Hassan’s home in Willesden, North West London, detectives found Sulphuric Acid at 91 per cent purity – another component of TATP.
Prosecutor Anne Whyte, QC, said: “Munir Mohammed appears to have met Rowaida El-Hassan, a qualified pharmacist, through a Muslim dating website.
“Their communications with each other demonstrated an emotional attachment and a shared extremist ideology.
“They exchanged materials and views at the time, we say, Mohammed was planning to perform an attack of his own, motivated and inspired by what he had seen and heard on social media.”
Ms. Whyte continued: “In his communications with Kurdi, Munir Mohammed pledged his obedience to Kurdi and therefore by implication to IS.
“He requested, using basic code, the receipt of bomb-making instructions and had expressed willingness to participate in ‘a new job in the UK’ – in other words, in an act of terrorism involving extreme violence.”
Both deny the charges, and the trial continues.
Last week, Breitbart London reported on an Islamist couple accused of plotting acts of terror. Madihah Taheer, who praised Islamic State and dreamt of celebrating her wedding with attacks, was found guilty of preparing to commit terrorist acts. Her husband, Ummar Mirza, and her sister-in-law Zainub Mirza already pleaded guilty to similar offences, and all three are due to be sentenced on December 1st.