ISIS supporter who wanted to target Jewish communities in the United Kingdom pleads guilty

Today in Woolwich Crown Court, ISIS supporter, Husnain Rashid, pled guilty to terrorism offences after posting thousands of messages calling for attacks against the Jewish community, Prince George and British army bases. He is due to be sentenced in June. CST has been in contact with the Police about this case, both before and during the trial.

Rashid, from Lancashire, dramatically changed his plea today, two weeks after his trial began, admitting encouraging terrorism. He used Telegram messenger, a popular application amongst ISIS supporters, to encourage others to attack Prince George at school, target British army bases, shopping centres in the UK and Government buildings. As well as the wider British population, Rashid had included British Jewish communities as a target for terrorism. Rashid’s Telegram channel, called “Lone Mujahid” posted 300,000 messages online over a one year period between November 2016 and November 2017.

Initially, Rashid pled not guilty to all the charges he faced, which included three counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, one count of encouraging terrorism and two counts of distributing a terrorist publication. After reversing his decision and admitting guilt, Judge Andrew Lees stated that he is facing a “very lengthy” prison term and “the question of your future dangerousness and the protection of the public is a matter that I will have to give very careful consideration.” 

CST wishes to thank the Crown Prosecution Service and the Police for dealing with this case.

Sentencing is due to take place in late June.

_{[Image: Greater Manchester Police]}