Teacher 'Planned Multiple Attacks' For IS

A chemistry teacher from Manchester was "preparing himself to commit multiple acts of murder" fighting with Islamic State, a court has heard.

Jamshed Javeed was one of a group of young Muslim men from Manchester who became radicalised and determined to fight jihad in Syria.

At an earlier hearing he pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts.

But he maintained that he was not an extremist and had never supported the aims of IS, instead intending to join rebels fighting the Assad regime.

The sentencing hearing at Woolwich Crown Court is expected to last two days.

The 30-year-old paid for flights for his brother Mohammad to travel to Syria with a friend to fight with IS.

Javeed, who was a teacher at Sharples School in Bolton, intended to join them, the court heard.

He bought clothing, equipment and flight tickets to travel to Turkey in November 2013. He was due to travel with friend Nur Hassan and, the night before, he gave him a computer hard drive onto which Hassan loaded violent extremist material.

Hassan was stopped at Manchester airport and police seized his phone, laptop and the hard drive. He missed his flight but travelled the next day.

Javeed, however, was unable to travel with him because his family, who were growing increasingly concerned about his radicalisation, had hidden his passport and bag.

Undeterred by the pleas of his family and pregnant wife, Javeed applied for a new passport, but was arrested before he was able to travel.

When police detained him in December 2013 they found extreme Islamist material on his mobile phones and computers.

Prosecutor Simon Dennison QC said it was clear the action Javeed intended to engage in "would have involved the use of firearms and/or explosives".

He said: "This case, of course, is not about who is right, and who is wrong, in the conflict in Syria - as if anyone could say.

"It is not about humanitarian aid. Nor is it about the religion of Islam.

"It is about the defendant assisting others in preparing, and preparing himself, to commit multiple acts of murder in guerrilla warfare to advance their religious or ideological cause."