A 'gentle' dental student has been convicted of terror offences after he was found with a manual on how to behead, kidnap and kill.

Mohammed Abbas Idris Awan, 24, who was studying in Sheffield, concealed his terrorist ambitions behind his seemingly gentle demeanour.

He was in possession of a terrifying Jihadist video entitled Commander Hamzah Zinjibary’s Training Camp, an instructional video for wannabe terrorists.

He had also researched how to cause maximum damage to human beings and ordered a catapult and ball bearings over the internet.

Mohammed Awan - convicted of three terror offences after a raid at his home in Crosland Moor

When police raided his home in Crosland Moor they found 11 mobile phones, 16 USB sticks and seven computers which contained a vast amount of terrorism material.

His older brother, Rizwan Awan, an Islamic State sympathiser, blew himself up in a suicide bomb attack in Mosul, Iraq , in March last year.

A jury at Sheffield Crown Court took just four hours to find Awan guilty of all three charges after a trial which lasted over three weeks.

Judge Paul Watson QC said he would sentence Awan on Wednesday morning.

IS sympathiser and suicide bomber Rizwan Awan who blew himself up in Mosul, Iraq, in 2016

Earlier In the trial prosecutor Simon Davis said the defendant had ordered 500 ball bearings over the internet as well as a catapult, which were delivered to the family home in Rudding Street.

He said Awan had researched how to cause maximum damage to human beings through their use though Awan claimed he was a keen fisherman and was intending to use them for hunting game such as rabbits.

He was also found to be in possession of the instructional video for wannabe terrorists.

In his opening speech Mr Davis said: “It tells how to kill, it tells how to shoot it tells how to kidnap, how to behead, how to use knives, guns and commit terrorist acts.

“It’s brutal and it’s graphic. That was also in the possession of the defendant on a memory stick.”

Police counter terrorist operation in Ellison and Rudding Street, Crosland Moor. Armed police in a back alley leading off Rudding Street.
Police counter terrorist operation in Ellison and Rudding Street, Crosland Moor. Armed police in a back alley leading off Rudding Street.

After the verdict Awan’s aunt Shahida Jehan Baig, berated Mr Davis, shouting: “You have put someone inside who is completely innocent. God will punish you.”

And she told the Examiner: “We will fight back. This is very unfair. It was his big brother that he had paid for. They should get the truth out.”

And a neighbour Mohammed Yaqub, who has known the defendant for years, told the Examiner afterwards: “I am shocked, very, very shocked. I have known him all my life.

“That’s very, very bad. He was a very nice, educated young man. I have known him since he was a kid.

“The jury have not wasted any time have they?”

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Afterwards, Det Supt Simon Atkinson, head of investigations at Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “Following his arrest and the subsequent house searches a number of exhibits were seized including 11 mobile phones, 16 USB memory sticks and seven computers.

“Specialist officers and staff examined a vast quantity of data and found a significant amount of terrorism-related material.

“Awan was influenced by the material he had researched online which included numerous Daesh propaganda sites.

“He purchased ball bearings online and information about the use of these in attacks was contained in the material he downloaded.

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“While we do not know the full details of Awan’s intentions, officers swiftly intervened before Awan could put any plans into practice.”

Awan was convicted of a charge of engaging in conduct in preparation of a terrorist act on or before June 6, 2017 and two charges of possessing a document or record of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.