British ISIS fanatic is jailed for life for the murder of an imam who was attacked with a hammer on his way home from prayers at a mosque

  • Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, 21, murdered Jalal Uddin in Rochdale
  • Mr Uddin, a respected imam, was bludgeoned to death in February 
  • Jury took four hours to convict him after a four week trial in Manchester
  • Accomplice Mohammed Kadir, 24, is believed to have fled to Syria
Mohammed Syeedy has been convicted of murdering an imam who he and friend believed practised 'black magic'

A British ISIS supporter has been jailed for life for stalking and murdering an imam who had his head caved in with a hammer.

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Mohammed Syeedy, 21, was consumed by hatred of Jalal Uddin, 71, because he practised a form of Islamic healing in Rochdale's Bangladeshi community which the terror group consider 'black magic'.

Former Manchester United steward Syeedy acted as getaway driver for another man, Mohammed Kadir, 24, who bludgeoned Mr Uddin to death in a children's play area on the early evening of February 18.

Syeedy was today handed a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 24 years.

Kadir fled the UK three days after the killing and it is thought he may now be in Syria. 

The pair developed a hatred of Mr Uddin because he used a form of healing involving amulets, known as taweez, which are said to bring good fortune.

They stalked Mr Uddin for six months and called him 'Voldemort',the evil wizard in Harry Potter, because they saw his faith healing as 'black magic', the trial heard.

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In the dock: British ISIS supporter Mohammed Hussain Syeedy has been found guilty of stalking and murdering an Imam who had his head caved in with a hammer.
Imam Jalal Uddin had his head caved in with a hammer
Evidence: Photographs show Syeedy posting with a flag of the Shahada - the Muslim profession of faith - draped over road signs in Rochdale (shown above)

Their intention turned to murder after they saw a photograph of the former imam – who they regarded as a 'magician' - with Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk at the end of last year. 

Mr Uddin, who was 71 at the time of his death, was bludgeoned in a park in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, in a horrific attack with a hammer because they believed that he was practicing 'black magic' and needed to be 'punished'.

The jury of six men and six women today found the defendant guilty of murder after four hours of deliberations.

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Jailing Syeedy today, judge Sir David Maddison told him: 'You and your co accused considered [taweez] to be a form of black magic that could not be tolerated in Islam.

'You were involved in a number of plots. The first plot was to get Jalal Uddin deported, the second was to report him to the mosque committee. The final plot was either kill him or to cause extremely serious harm to him.

The judge added: 'It seems to me this was a case of two members of the Muslim faith killing another member of the Muslim faith solely because they disagreed with a particular act undertaken by that person.'

Syeedy held his hands to his face in shock after the foreman delivered the verdict after about four hours of jury deliberations.

He later shook his head several times with his face covered as he sat down. 

The jury was shown footage gathered by Mr Uddin's killers as they stalked him for months
The jury was shown footage gathered by Mr Uddin's killers as they stalked him for months

As part of his defence, Syeedy claimed that he had been personally affected by the acts of ISIS, after the death of taxi driver Alan Henning who was his older brother's good friend, branding them as 'disgusting' in his evidence.

He also travelled as part of an aid convoy, Rochdale to Syria, in 2013, where the defence suppose that he was radicalised.

The pair were said to have sympathised with the ISIS ideology that Taweez are 'black magic' and the magicians practicing it should be killed.

They and their associates carried out secret surveillance to establish where Mr Uddin was living and in August 2015 raided the mosque where he kept his books of 'spells' and other precious religious materials.

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On September 6 'covertly-recorded' footage of Mr Uddin was sent to Syeedy's phone, and showed the victim, wearing a white head scarf, walking past the window.

Syeedy and Kadir initially plotted to report Mr Uddin to immigration authorities in the hope he would be deported back to Bangladesh for overstaying his visa.

A photograph found on Mohammed Hussain Syeedy's mobile phone shows him posing with a flag in Rochdale and performing what prosecutors claim is an 'ISIS-salute' alongside a friend
This evidence picture from the trial of Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, shows the taweez - containing Islamic prayers, which Mr Uddin wore when he died

He was supported by members of the community, moving from property to property in fear for being discovered by the immigration authorities.

However the plan to get Mr Uddin deported was cast aside after he was pictured with Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk, leading them to believe that deportation would be difficult.

A WhatsApp message sent to Syeedy's phone along with the photograph of the victim with the MP read: 'Oh c**p… Voldemort never gonna be busted by immigration now'.

Believing that getting Mr Uddin deported would be difficult, the pair plotted to kill him. On February 18 this year, the pair met up and travelled to the Jalalia Mosque where they saw Mr Uddin.

They then stalked him to a property on South Street in Syeedy's black Astra, with the lights turned off so Mr Uddin wouldn't recognise them.

Manchester Crown Court heard how Syeedy travelled in a convoy to Syria in December 2013, shortly after his elder brother left with Alan Henning, 47, pictured, on a similar mission

Just after 8.30pm Mr Uddin left the property, and entered a park further up the road. Syeedy dropped Kadir off, and the pair were separated for less than two minutes before Kadir was back in his car.

The prosecution say that this was to allow Kadir to 'attack at speed'. Mr Uddin suffered severe head injuries, with his dentures being broken in half inside his mouth and having the imprint of a hammer head on his forehead.

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Syeedy, who pleaded not guilty to both murder and manslaughter, denies the fact that he is an ISIS supporter, despite extremist material being found on his mobile phone.

Among these were photographs of Syeedy and his associates raising index figure salutes, which are said to signify an allegiance to ISIS, it is claimed.

Kadir travelled to Instanbul after the killing and is believed to had fled to Syria three days after killing Mr Uddin. 

Crime scene: Mr Uddin was found with severe fractures to his skull administered with a hammer as he walked past a children's play area near Rochdale town centre
Brutal: Syeedy is said to have driven the getaway car while his friend Kadir struck the fatal blows to kill and also 'humiliate' the Muslim scholar, it was said

He has a history of posting ISIS-related material online. In February 2015, he updated his profile picture on a social network with an image containing a quote about armies carrying black flags.

He also posted a photograph of a lounge with a television in the background showing an image of an ISIS flag. 

He also posted an English-language nasheed produced by ISIS with the chorus: "We are the soldiers that fight in the day and the night." 

 

The family of the victim have paid tribute to the peace-loving grandfather and hit out at the 'barbarity' of ISIS

The family of Jalal Uddin have hit out at the 'barbarity' of ISIS

The family of victim Jalal Uddin have paid tribute to him as a man who had 'love and respect for all religions' and 'peacefully practised his faith'.

Mr Jalal, the father of five sons and two daughters, came to the UK from Bangladesh in 2002 to teach the Quran in East London before moving north to Rochdale.

Although Uddin was widely praised as having made a positive contribution to the community in Rochdale, he was in Britain illegally by the time of his death, and that had been his status for many years.

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It is understood he has not seen his wife, children or grandchildren in the period since he left, but was planning to return when he was killed.

His family described the time since the killed as a 'difficult and arduous journey' for them.

In a statement released through police, the family said: 'Although Jalal was a Muslim who peacefully practised his faith, he had a love and respect for all religions, cultures and creeds, and the fact that he was murdered by someone inspired by ISIL shows the true nature and barbarity of this organisation and those who serve it.

'Jalal's widow has lost a best friend, and one of his son's, who last saw his father when he was 5 years old, and who led his funeral did not even see Jalal's face due to the horrific facial injuries he sustained. 

'Our family has now been left empty. Jalal was the greatest man in our lives; his smile will never be replaced.

'We take comfort from the fact that the evidence acknowledges that Jalal was a greatly respected man, a caring and loving soul.

'We hope that with all the information which has come out in court, and from within the wider community of Rochdale, it is clear to all that Jalal did not deserve what he was subjected to.

The family said of Syeedy: 'He has shown no remorse or sympathy towards Jalal or his family, as indicative of his attitude and demeanour throughout the last four weeks.'

HOW THE RELIGIOUS BOY WHO STUDIED ENGINEERING TURNED INTO A 'FANATIC' WHO WAS 'MOTIVATED BY HATRED'

Syeedy's trial heard he was a religious man who had attended mosque since he was five or six years old

The jury in Syeedy's trial have heard how a young boy who attended his local mosque from a young age became interested in extremism as Syria descended into civil war.

He grew up in Ramsay Street, Rochdale, and went to Heybrook Primary School and Falinge Park High School, where he passed at least seven GCSEs.

He went to college, where he studied a BTEC national diploma in electrical and electronic engineering, finishing in 2013 with a distinction and two merits.

He dropped out of a degree course and worked in a warehouse, then for a company called Controlled Event Solutions, which provided stewards to Manchester United's Old Trafford ground.

Syeedy became interested in the conflict in Syria and started fundraising for a convoy to the country in 2013.

During his work for one the convoys from Rochdale to the warzone, British man Alan Henning was abducted and later beheaded in an ISIS video featuring Jihadi John.

Syeedy said his older brother was 'really close' to taxi driver and aid volunteer Mr Henning.

Syeedy arrived shortly after another convoy, Rochdale Aid 4 Syria, organised by the al-Fatiha charity, which Henning had joined.

He stayed in the country for two or three days, close to the Turkish border before returning to Britain.

As he continued to study the religion in later life, he downloaded a poster on the world of jinn, which are spirits or demons

After returning from Syria, he began concentrating on studying Islam, and joined a group which would run town-centre stalls, handing out Islamic literature.

A photograph found after he was arrested, showed Syeedy and his older brother posing in front of a Rochdale 2 Syria poster.

They were wearing patches with an AK-47 assault rifle and raising their index fingers in a salute favoured by ISIS.

Syeedy's pre-occupation with the supernatural, appears to date back to April 2012, when he had downloaded an image named 'Jinn Circle' to a Dropbox account which had a poster called 'The World of Jinn' [demons], that advertised dates, times and speakers.

As Syria descended into conflict, he helped organise convoys to the warzone

On a Samsung laptop from September 4 2013 there was a mocked-up logo from the computer firm Intel with the phrase 'shirk inside' which also included the words: 'Don't wear Taweez' and 'Whoever wears an amulet has committed shirk' - shirk being a reference to the sin of practising idolatry.

Syeedy and his friends also showed a keen interest in suicide bombing.

A black headband with white script of the type worn by suicide bombers was found in the wardrobe at the family home, along with a black jihadist flag with white script.

There were a number of references to suicide bombing among the material on a phone found at the address, much of it downloaded from friends who had sent it on Whatsapp.

An article on the death of Kabir Ahmed, an ISIS suicide bomber from Derby, had been downloaded from November 2014.

A small black MP3 player had audio files including an Arabic chant, known as a nasheed, called 'Rise Up' which had a soundtrack accompanied by gunfire, downloaded on February 17 2016, the day before the murder.

Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, told the court Syeedy was 'no innocent abroad' during the events that led to the death of Jalal Uddin, but rather 'someone fully engaged in and playing a part in those events, motivated by hatred.'

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