A Birmingham University PhD student has been found guilty of using a 3D printer at home to build a “kamikaze” drone designed to deliver an explosive warhead or chemical weapon for Islamic State (IS) terrorists.
Mechanical engineering graduate Mohamad al-Bared, 27, was found guilty of using a 3D printer to make the drone at his Coventry home while sending weekly updates to IS.
Prosecutors said it was clear from encrypted online chats and other digital material that he supported IS, intended to make a “single-use” video-transmitting drone for terrorist purposes, and to travel to Africa via Turkey.
Heeley also said Bared, who was seen as a “mild-mannered academic” by friends, had filled in an IS application form and set up a UK-registered company to help plans for future foreign travel.
Bared’s barrister, Alistair Webster KC, claimed his client had studied IS-linked material, including video of beheadings, because he wanted to “debate” against the terror group’s views.
DCS Mark Payne, the commander of the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit, said Bared “clearly had a terrorist mindset”.
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