Man jailed for life for Islamic State inspired murder of imam found dead in child's play area

A former Manchester United steward has been jailed for life for the Islamic State-inspired murder of an imam.

Mohammed Syeedy, 21, was consumed by hatred of Jalal Uddin, 71, because he practised a form of Islamic healing in Rochdale's Bangladeshi community which the terror group consider "black magic", the court heard.

He acted as a getaway driver for another man, Mohammed Kadir, 24, who bludgeoned Mr Uddin to death in a children's play area on the early evening of February 18, jurors were told.

Kadir fled the UK three days after the killing and it is thought he may now be in Syria.

The judge said Mr Uddin was a "gentle, well-respected man" who was attacked and "brutally" killed because he practised Ruqya faith healing.

He told Syeedy: "You and your co-offender saw the practice as a form of black magic that could not be tolerated within Islam."

  • Stalking caught on CCTV

Syeedy was involved in months-long surveillance of Mr Uddin with Kadir.

CCTV seen in court showed the elderly man standing on a pavement as the pair stalked him through the streets in Syeedy's car. They tracked him to a friend's house, where he had gone to share a meal after evening prayers.

As the Mr Uddin past the gates of another mosque and entered a park on his way home, Kadir jumped out of the car with a hammer and ran after him. He attacked Mr Uddin, and left him dying in the road.

  • Jalal Uddin's final moments

A large volume of IS-related material was found by police on devices belonging to Syeedy at his family home, the court heard.

It included many photographs of him and his friends, including Kadir, raising IS one-finger salutes, jurors were told.

But Syeedy undertook "tireless" charity work that masked his hatred of Mr Uddin, the court was told.

Jurors heard from numerous friends and associates in Rochdale's Bangladeshi community that Syeedy was a kind, selfless humanitarian who was committed to helping those less fortunate.

Handout by Syeedy's defence showing him collecting for charity.

The court was told he was involved in a charity Human Aid which took him to Syria on a medical aid convoy in December 2013.

The convoy to deliver ambulances in the war-torn country followed a day on from a similar mission undertaken by his elder brother and his "friend" Alan Henning.

The Salford taxi driver was abducted shortly after arriving in Syria and was later executed by Islamic State.

One former charity colleague even described him as "like a teddy bear, you just want to hug him, he is such a nice guy".

At the time of the murder, Syeedy was working at Harry's Chicken and Pizza takeaway in Rochdale town centre after he dropped out of an electrical engineering degree course at Huddersfield University.

He told the course that he gave his entire £100 weekly wage to his unemployed mother to help her run the family home.

Syeedy worked in several youth organisations. Credit: Handout

He was actively involved in the running of several youth organisations in the town designed to "get kids off the streets" and was held up as a role model for local youngsters.

But a different picture of Syeedy emerged though when police seized phones and devices at his family home in Ramsay Street, Rochdale, the prosecution said.

Among thousands of images were Jihadist material, said the Crown, including the defendant posing in photographs holding IS flags, wearing IS patches and raising index-finger salutes, commonly used by the terror group.

Syeedy said the symbols were not proof he had been radicalised but merely testaments to his Muslim faith and that IS had hijacked them for their own use.

ISIS flags were found at Syeedy's home along with images of him with symbols of jihad.

A video on his phone of his younger brother planting an alleged IS black flag outside Wardleworth Community Centre - near to where Mr Uddin was attacked - and a friend videoing himself in a B & Q store saying "Islamic State are coming to Oldham" were "just banter" among friends, he said.

He had also downloaded a publication called Join The Caravan which advocated violent jihad and martyrdom, said to have been written by one of the founders of al Qaida. Syeedy transferred the download to a memory card but claimed he had not actually read it.

The prosecution said his extremist sympathies drove him to becoming an "integral part" of the plan to murder Mr Uddin.

Mohammed Syeedy and Mohammed Kadir filmed Jalal Uddin with their phones as they stalked him.

Syeedy held his hands to his face in shock after the foreman delivered the verdict after about four hours of jury deliberations.

He later shook his head several times with his face covered as he sat down.

High Court judge Sir David Maddison handed him a life sentence, with a minimum term of 24 years.