For violating the terms of his parole, ex-security guard Mohammed Uddin is back in jail. He was freed early due to his deemed “danger to the public” status.
After entering a guilty plea in 2016, Uddin was sentenced to seven years in prison for his attempt to join ISIS in Syria in late 2014. Despite his December 2019 license release, he was returned to jail in February 2023 on charges of possessing two hidden phones and a tablet. The police discovered that possessing two cell phones and an electronic tablet violated Uddin’s Parole Board release license.
The Old Bailey heard Uddin’s admission of guilt on five charges of failing to comply with the Counter Terrorism Act 2008’s notification obligations. He confessed that he had concealed three email accounts and two cell phones from the authorities. According to Justice Jeremy Baker, Uddin’s radicalization in the UK and subsequent flight to Syria via Turkey to join ISIS as fighters formed the backdrop to this offense. For five weeks, he waited in Syria for military training.
Ten days after his return, Uddin was apprehended by counter-terrorism officials at Gatwick Airport upon his arrival in Britain. They discovered extremist literature in his hands and suspected he was engaged in terrorist activities. A cab driver named Naseer Taj was one of the people Uddin messaged shortly after his arrival in Syria to warn him of the terrible circumstances and urge him to be patient. To add insult to injury, Taj intended to abandon his British wife and children in favor of a “jihadi bride” and join ISIS in Syria.
The Bedford native Taj arranged for a journey from Brussels to Istanbul, Turkey, on December 31, 2014, and got a Turkish visa. Despite his denials, he was found guilty on one count of plotting terrorist activities and two counts of having materials that extremists may use in their cause during the Old Bailey trial. At the Old Bailey in May 2016, he was sentenced to eight years and three months in prison.
Following Uddin’s incarceration, Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, who heads counter-terrorism policing in the northeast, made it clear that those found guilty of terrorism offenses are continuously watched and are subject to stringent notification obligations.
