Paintball 'terrorist' to be sentenced

A man who trained for battle at a paintball centre before trying to join IS is set to sentenced by a UK judge.

An apprentice bricklayer who attempted to join Islamic State n Syria after "training" for battle at a paintballing centre is set to be sentenced in a UK court.

Humza Ali, from Birmingham, was refused entry to Turkey in January 2015 after flying to Istanbul via Dublin, having travelled by coach and ferry to Ireland.

A three-week trial which ended in December heard that the 20-year-old was covertly recorded in December 2013 as he vowed to to "fight until I die" for IS.

Ali told his trial he had no intention of travelling on to Syria from Turkey.

But jurors convicted Ali, of Ward End, of attempting to travel for terrorist purposes and disseminating numerous video messages to other men, showing beheadings and atrocities carried out by IS.

Following Ali's conviction, police released photos recovered from his mobile phone showing him posing beside a tank at Delta Force paintballing in Hockley Heath, near Solihull, in June 2014.

During Ali's trial, prosecutor Anne Whyte QC said the paintballing trip was "a bonding act of preparation" between men of like mind and like intent, doing what passed, in their limited circumstances, for training.


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Source: AAP



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