Muslim convert found guilty of planned terror acts

Jason Savage, 35, threatened to "flatten" a mosque and plotted to attack an Islamic cleric who was an outspoken critic of terrorism

A Muslim convert who threatened to "flatten" a mosque and plotted to attack an Islamic cleric who was an outspoken critic of terrorism has been found guilty of preparing a terrorist act.

Jason Savage, 35, was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday.

Video footage released by West Midlands Police after his conviction showed him filming reconnaissance near a mosque in Wright Street, Small Heath.

Savage, from Fourth Avenue in Small Heath, was remanded in custody for sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court on 11 April.

A three-week trial was told Savage was arrested shortly after sending online messages to someone he did not know was an undercover officer, saying he was waiting to see what "opportunities come to present itself".

Jurors also heard that Savage had taken screenshots of the West Midlands Police headquarters, police stations in Perry Barr and Stechford and various military locations in Birmingham, and told the undercover officer he was putting his neck on a "chopping block".

Prosecutor Peter Ratliff alleged that Savage had planned to commit and film an attack.

He told the court the defendant converted to Islam at some point in the 2010s and followed an "extreme and violent" part of the Salafi movement of which organisations such as al Qaida and so-called Islamic State were "particularly notorious" examples.

Disapproval of 'false followers'

Prosecutors alleged that Savage had carried out reconnaissance with a view to attacking a cleric, book shop and mosque in the Small Heath area, whose approach to the Salafi movement was "entirely at odds" with his own.

The mosque, shop and publishing house advocated a strand of Salafism that stressed the importance of non-involvement in social or political activism, the court heard, while the cleric was an "outspoken critic" of Islamist terrorism, arguing that it was entirely incompatible with the true essence of Islam.

Mr Ratliff said: "A key feature of the defendant's words and writings was his real disapproval of 'disbelievers' - but particularly those he considered were false followers of Islam."

By February 2024, the court heard, Savage was referring to watching knife-fighting techniques on YouTube and posted a video of Osama bin Laden.

Mr Ratliff said Savage claimed the mosque he filmed outside needed "flattening" and spoke about how his targets were to be "hunted down".

On 11 March, the court heard, Savage went to the area around the mosque and recorded three mobile phone videos.

Two days later, the jury heard, Savage made internet searches about homemade firearms and ammunition, including pipe guns, nail guns, firing pin mechanisms and shell casings.

His conduct also included research into the manufacture of components of firearms and the "lethal use of knives".

Mrs Justice Farbey ordered pre-sentence and psychiatric reports of Savage to be prepared before his sentencing.