Radical Muslim student posed with guns 'to look cool'

A radical Muslim student convicted of planning to join rebel forces in Syria posed for pictures with guns because he wanted to look "cool", he told a court.

Birkbeck College student David Souaan was arrested after fellow students raised concerns about the pictures and his radical views on Islam, his trial at the Old Bailey heard.

The 20-year-old, who comes from a wealthy family in Serbia, had denied the charges against him and claimed he had visited Syria to collect his grandfather's belongings.

He said he had posed for pictures with guns because he wanted to look "cool".

"At the time when I was there I felt something like I wanted some trophy - the photos. As the teenagers say nowadays, it looks 'cool'. So that was the reason," he said during his trial.

But a jury at the Old Bailey dismissed his claims, taking just nine hours to find him guilty.

Following his conviction, Judge Peter Rook told Souaan he is facing a jail term when he returns to the court in February for sentencing.