Extremist who attempted to become IS martyr jailed

Neil Henderson,Old BaileyandAna da Silva,West of England

Mohamed Mohamoud has been sentenced to 12 years in prison/ CTPSE

A man who travelled to Somalia to join the Islamic State (IS) in a failed bid to become a "martyr" has been jailed for 12 years.

Somalia-born security guard Mohamed Mohamoud, 22, from Bristol, travelled to East Africa in January 2025, but returned to England two months later after failing to reach the group because of UK counter-terrorism operations.

Passing his sentence at the Old Bailey on Monday, judge Mr Justice Lickley told Mohamoud: "You did everything you could to join IS and were prevented by factors beyond your control."

Jurors were told that Mohamoud was radicalised after viewing extreme material on YouTube and TikTok.

However, his bid to become a "martyr" for IS failed because of ongoing counter-terrorism operations and he returned to the UK on 3 March.

After returning home, he remained in contact with IS recruiters and told them: "Any time, you say the word, I will return."

He was arrested by counter-terror police a year later. Investigators seized Mohamoud's phone, which contained data showing it in various locations around Somalia during January and March 2025.

adinside1Detectives also located a Telegram chat thread in which Mohamoud asked for help to travel to Somalia so that he could join the "Mujahideen". He said in a message that his ambition was to become a "martyr".

IS is a proscribed group in the UK and Mohamoud was prosecuted under the Terrorism Act 2006.

Mohamoud, who first moved to the UK to join members of his family in 2017, had conversations with what the court heard were "AI bots" used by IS to screen applicants.