A man charged with plotting to commit an act of terrorism in the UK told police he bought hundreds of ball bearings and a catapult so he could go hunting.
Mohammed Abbas Awan, whose older brother Rizwan Awan, blew himself up in a bomb blast in Mosul, Iraq, in March last year, was arrested after buying the items online.
Mohammed Awan’s trial at Sheffield Crown Court heard that he told police he was a keen fisherman and researched how to hunt game with a catapult.
Mr Awan, 24, a fourth year dental student at the University of Sheffield, denies three terrorism-related charges.
He was arrested in June after 500 ball bearings were delivered to his family’s home in Rudding Street, Crosland Moor.
Anti-terror police also found material following a raid at his flat in Sheffield, including a publication which contained information on using ball bearings as shrapnel and how to make bombs.
Asked by police if he understood ball bearings could be used to make improvised explosive devices he replied: “No comment.”
The court has heard Rizwan Awan travelled from Manchester to Istanbul on May 17, 2015 and appeared to have joined the so-called Islamic State group.
Asked about his relationship with his brother, Mr Awan said: “We were close. He was my older brother. I looked up to him.”
He added he was “shocked” when he learned his brother had travelled to Syria.
The defendant denies preparing an act of terrorism and two charges of possessing terrorist-related documents.
The trial continues.
