A former Nottingham supermarket worker is starting an eight year prison sentence after being convicted of planning to join a terror group linked to Islamic State.
Ryan Counsell was found guilty of a string of terrorism offences following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court.
On Friday a judge handed him an eight-year sentence after hearing how he had bought military equipment in preparation for travelling to the Philippines to join Abu Sayyaf, a jihadist group which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
The 28-year-old, formerly of Russell Road, Hyson Green, was convicted of preparing for acts of terrorism and three counts of possession of terrorist-related material.
Officers first searched his home after he bought military equipment online in August 2014.
His stockpile of items including heavy duty military-style boots, combat trousers, camouflage clothing, knee and elbow pads, a monocular scope, rifle magazine pouches and a cheek pad to be attached to the stock of a rifle.
Other items of clothing were designed to resist explosions and knife attacks.
In a cupboard in his child’s bedroom in the house there was a blue suitcase, which was filled with camping equipment and military material. There was also a notebook which had lists written by hand for field and non field materials.
As part of a large amount of research he had also looked up ‘Abu Sayyaf,’ ‘Philippine militants trying to unite with other IS support groups’ and ‘Abu Sayyaf gunmen kill 2 soldiers in Basilan’.
On May 30 2016, Counsell, a former emloyee of Hyson Green Asda, bought return tickets from Heathrow to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and then on to Zamboanga.
But he was arrested and detained before he could travel.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office currently advises against all travel to the Zamboanga region due to the high threat posed by Islamist terrorist groups.
East Midlands Special Operations Unit Special Branch, North East Counter Terrorism Unit, and Nottingham City Divisional Support Unit were all involved in the investigation and arrest of Counsell.
