An Islamist who was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK has been convicted of terrorism offences after officers found a “suicide bomb manual” on his phone. Abdullah Yousef, 24, of Galapagos Grove, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, was found guilty by unanimous jury verdict following a two-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, which concluded on Monday.
Guilty verdicts and offences
Yousef was found guilty of membership of a proscribed organisation, namely Daesh. He was also convicted of collecting information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, and of six counts of dissemination of terrorist publications.
The court heard that Yousef had an interest in extreme Islamist material, particularly content linked to Daesh. Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said the conviction followed an investigation by the unit.
Arrest and evidence
On December 16, 2025, CTPSE officers attended Yousef’s home, arrested him, and seized his mobile phones, which were then forensically examined. Alongside messages sent on Telegram professing his support for, and membership of, Daesh, he sent a message stating: “By the way, I am a terrorist.”
Yousef was charged in connection with the investigation on December 22 of last year. Frederick Hookway, prosecuting, told an earlier hearing: “The defendant was arrested on December 16, 2025 at his home address. After being arrested, the property was searched, and the digital device was seized, a mobile phone.”
He added: “The evidence really comes from that mobile phone and what was found within.”
Manual and background
Hookway said that on May 4, 2024, Yousef engaged in a conversation on Telegram with another user and was sent a link on archive that was used to make a pledge of allegiance to IS. He said a specific document recovered from the phone appeared to be a guide to making suicide vests.
“Although it did not contain all the instructions needed, it would have been capable of being useful to someone with that intention,” he said. Yousef entered the UK illegally when he was approximately 15 years old. He claims to have come from Syria, but bearing in mind the dialect on his phone, he appears to have come from Egypt. He has indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
Detective Chief Superintendent Oliver Wright, Head of CTPSE, said: “Yousef professed being a member Daesh, a proscribed terrorist group in the UK, that promotes violence in furtherance of its cause.” He added that Yousef made vast quantities of terrorist material available to others, including details of how to make improvised explosive devices and a video glorifying the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers. Wright warned that sharing such content can encourage those vulnerable to radicalisation to adopt a similar extremist mindset and be motivated to engage in terrorist activity.
