Man tried to frame brother for terror offences in revenge over marriage break-up
Shohidul Islam pleads guilty in trial that heard he created fake social media profiles
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A man who tried to frame his brother-in-law as a terrorist has pleaded guilty to acts of terrorism at the Old Bailey.
Shohidul Islam, from Bradford, posed as his brother-in-law on social media to make it appear as though he was involved in terrorist activity after the breakdown of his marriage, according to the Metropolitan Police.
He posed as the man, whose name has not been made public, on fake Twitter and Facebook accounts to post content supporting Isis and terror attacks in the UK.
Police were first contacted in December 2015, when Islam’s brother-in-law reported that an online video had been posted on a YouTube account that contained malicious and false allegations that he had been convicted of child sexual offences abroad.
Then in January last year, an email accusing Islam’s brother-in-law of preparing a bomb to target a school was sent anonymously to police, who quickly established it was a hoax.
They later arrested Islam and discovered terrorist-related material on his laptop, along with the picture of his brother-in-law which was used on the fake accounts.
Further enquiries revealed that the YouTube account linked to the video accusing Islam’s brother-in-law of child sex offences was set up from Islam’s computer's unique IP address.
Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Islam’s actions throughout this whole affair were extremely reckless and utterly despicable.
"With the current threat level as it is, my officers are busy enough dealing with those who pose a genuine threat, without having to deal with hoax bomb threats and somebody trying to settle a family feud in this way.
“The case against him was so compelling that in the end, Islam was left with little choice other than to plead guilty.
“His actions would have undoubtedly had a great impact on his brother-in-law, who was his intended victim in all of this. I only hope that today’s outcome brings some small comfort to him so that he begin to put this behind him.”