A Dewsbury businessman has been convicted of an offence under the Terrorism Act for making notes about Mujahideen training.

Adeel Amjad, 35, was unanimously found guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court of possessing a record containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

The handwritten notes titled Commander of Mujahideen were in a notebook discovered in a wardrobe in his bedroom during a police search of his home in Headfield Road, Savile Town on November 5 2013.

Amjad who has run a jewellers shop in Dewsbury for 17 years and a hotel in Roundhay Road, Leeds for five years had denied the offence claiming he made the notes, which included physical exercises because he was trying to lose weight.

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The eight man four woman jury took under four hours to reach the unanimous verdict and Amjad was bailed with a condition of residence until December for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service.

The Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC told him: “The fact I am giving you bail and asking for a report is no indication the sentence will not be custodial, that will be the starting point in my mind on December 11 but the final sentence will depend on everything I am told on that day.”

Leeds Crown Court
Leeds Crown Court

He thanked the jury for their care and consideration in the case saying there were no sentencing guidelines for Terrorism charges. “Offences of this nature are at the lower end of these type of offences, not all people are sent to prison for this type of offence and I will need to consider that in due course.”

Brett Weaver prosecuting had told the court police visited Amjad’s home “for an entirely unrelated and irrelevant matter.”

But during a search of the property the notebook containing the handwritten notes was found in a wardrobe in his bedroom along with other documents inside clear plastic envelopes.

He said it was the Crown’s case that Amjad had the notes not as part of any keep fit regime but because they would be useful for somebody preparing for combat “arising from Jihad.”

Mr Weaver suggested in cross-examination that Mujahideen fighters needed to be fit to carry out Jihad.

“I suppose so,” replied Amjad. “But it was not part of my plan, it was not something I would look into at all, I never had any intention of doing anything terrorist related.”