Radicalised chemistry teacher from Manchester intent on fighting for Isis and was prepared to kill jailed

The Manchester Evening News

A chemistry teacher from Manchester who was determined to fight with Islamic State despite the desperate pleas of his family was prepared to kill in Syria, a court has heard. Jamshed Javeed, from Levenshulme, was part of a group of young Muslim men from Manchester who became radicalised and ‘determined to fight Jihad’ in 2013, Woolwich Crown Court was told. He helped his younger brother, Mohammed, and two other men join the group, then widely known as Isis, by providing money for flights as well as clothing and equipment, prosecutor Simon Denison QC said.

Javeed, 30, who taught 11 to 16-year-olds at Sharples High School in Bolton, prepared to follow them to the country with another member of the group, Nur Hassan, in November 2013, buying clothing, equipment and flight tickets, but was stopped from travelling by his family, who hid the clothes he had prepared, along with his passport.

But he was adamant – and even his wife’s revelation that she was pregnant with their child could not deter him, the court heard. Javeed was arrested in December 2013 before he could realise his ambition.

He pleaded guilty last year to two counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts and a sentencing hearing has now started. He is due to discover his sentence tomorrow.

Update from the BBC

A chemistry teacher who was poised to travel to Syria to fight with the group that became widely known as Islamic State has been jailed for six years. Javeed, a teacher at Sharples High School in Bolton, had been preparing to leave his home in Levenshulme. after helping his younger brother make the trip to Syria.

The teacher’s relatives initially foiled his plans by hiding his passport but he persisted even after learning his wife was pregnant. Police found £1,490 in cash, thermal gloves and combat-style trousers in a rucksack during a search at his home.

At an earlier hearing, Javeed admitted two counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terror acts but insisted he was travelling only to support the people of Syria, not to join Isis.

But in sentencing him, Judge Michael Topolski said he was “not satisfied” that Javeed had rejected “Isis’s ultimate aims”.