A schoolboy recruited into a cell engaged in a “worldwide conspiracy” to kill non-Muslims yesterday became Britain’s youngest convicted terrorist. Yorkshire teenager Hammaad Munshi, who was 16 when he was arrested, downloaded terrorist materials including guides for making napalm and grenades. Now 18, Munshi was found guilty with two other men of possessing or making documents promoting terrorism. Material found in their possession included guidance for making lethal weapons, manuals on how to carry out assassinations and personal details of members of the royal family. During a three month trial at Blackfriars crown court in London, the prosecution accused the three of involvement in an al-Qaida-inspired conspiracy to attack the west. Munshi was leading a double life when he came to the attention of Leeds counter-terrorism unit. By day the teenager from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, whose grandfather is a respected Muslim scholar, was studying for his GCSEs at Westborough high school. But at home, stashed beneath his bed, he kept handwritten notes about his desire for martyrdom including the claim: “One who is not taking part in the battle nor has the sheer intention to die is in the branch of hypocrisy.” It was a small find compared to the hoard of terrorist material police discovered he had accumulated through the internet. He had collected notes on the manufacture of grenades and napalm, and his PC contained videos and audio clips showing mujahideen fighting and al-Qaida propaganda. Co-defendant Aabid Khan, 23, a former burger bar worker from Bradford, recruited Munshi when he was 15 and served as his mentor. Described as the “Mr Fix-it” of the cell, he had links to proscribed terrorist groups and ran an “online extremist support network” through which he hoped to recruit “a group of at least 12”. In one exchange he wrote: “What I want to do is cause trouble for the kuffar [non-believers] with hit-and-runs everywhere, cause fear and panic in their countries, make them nervous so they make mistakes.” Paul Lewis reports.
