A London teenager blew his student loan on travelling to Syria to join ISIS – and duped airport police by claiming the group was hoping to find love in the war-torn country, a court today heard.
Yahya Rashid, 19, used a forged BTEC certificate to gain a place at Middlesex University despite having an IQ of between 65 and 70 – far below the average of between 85 and 115.
He then used a loan and educational grants that he was entitled to claim to take four friends from his mosque with him to the Turkey-Syria border via Morocco, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
But while Rashid’s friends crossed to border to Syria, the teenager, then only 18, backed out and remained in Turkey after talking to his father. He then returned to the UK and was arrested.
Today, Rashid was convicted of engaging in conduct in preparation for committing an act of terrorism, and engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting others to commit acts of terrorism.
He had denied both terror charges, court officials said.
The teenager’s trial heard that the group were stopped and questioned by police at Gatwick Airport as they left the UK but were subsequently allowed to board their flight to Casablanca.