Two school friends were jailed for roughly 13 years each after it was discovered they travelled to Syria and fought with Al-Qaeda associated militants.
Yusuf Sarwar and Mohammed Ahmed, both 22 years-old, had known each other from Handsworth school with the former attending Birmingham City University and the latter unemployed. Judge Michael Topolski who was presiding over the case ruled that the information found on a disc outlining the construction of an 'improvised explosive device' was a very “disturbing feature.”
The two young extremists were taken to trial at Woolwich Crown Court when Sarwar's worried mother found a letter in his bedroom detailing how he wanted to 'die a martyr.'
Judge Topolski commented “She showed extraordinarily brave conduct. I can only imagine the pain she was going through.” Sarwar and Ahmed were arrested at Heathrow Airport after travelling back on a connecting flight throughTurkey. Though the defence asserted that Ahmed was “and is essentially a good young man who has allowed himself to be radicalised” Topolski said “they willingly and enthusiastically embarked on a course intending to commit acts of terrorism.”
