High Wycombe man jailed for travelling to Syria to join IS

Shabazz Suleman was in his late teens when he disappeared while on a family holiday to Turkey nine years ago

A man has been jailed for at least nine and a half years for travelling to Syria to join the Islamic State group.

Shabazz Suleman, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, was 19 when he disappeared while on a family holiday to Turkey in 2014.

He was arrested at Heathrow Airport in September 2021 and charged with a string of terror offences.

Now 27, he was given the minimum term as part of a life sentence at the Old Bailey.

In April, he pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism by travelling to Turkey in order to join Islamic State (IS) in Syria in August 2014.

He was also charged with being a member of IS, a banned organisation, between 2014 and 2017, and receiving training in the use of firearms.

These two charges were left to lie on file after the prosecution said Suleman's guilty plea addressed them.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC said the former grammar school boy "understood IS was a proscribed organisation in English law".

"Your ambition was to become a sniper," he added.

"When you arrived in IS-controlled territory, you would have been vetted and only allowed to stay if you were considered to be committed to the cause."

Shabazz Suleman, from High Wycombe, was arrested at Heathrow Airport in September 2021, having become "disenchanted" with IS

He found Suleman to be legally dangerous and a hearing to determine whether to pass a serious crime prevention order was adjourned to a later date.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the court that, while attempting to travel to Syria, Suleman had been held by Turkish forces before opting to be part of a prisoner swap with IS.

On joining the group in Syria, he became active on social media and posted about his experiences in IS territory while engaged with members of the media.

The court heard he became "disenchanted" with jihadism and tried to desert IS.

After the collapse of IS, he was taken captive by a faction of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) before being transferred to Turkey and then Pakistan.

Compared violence to TV show

The court heard that in the months leading up to his departure to Turkey, Suleman's exchanges with fellow pupils at school showed he "fully appreciated" he would be joining and supporting a terrorist organisation which engaged in "indiscriminate violence against civilians".

In February 2014, he shared "shocking" images of violence linked with IS on a WhatsApp group and sought to play down their "horror" by comparing them to cartoons from Horrible Histories.

In June, he suggested to another school friend that they go to Iraq and "wage Jihad".

The court heard Suleman messaged his family on the day he disappeared insisting he was "not brainwashed" and had been "planning this for months".

In October 2017, while in the hands of FSA, he told Sky News his intention was not really to fight, that he wanted to help Syrian people, but he was "sympathetic" to IS.

'Did not handle guns'

He arrived back in the UK on 29 September 2021 and was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000.

In a police interview, Suleman denied choosing to join IS while held in Turkey and said he had changed his mind about going but was handed over anyway as part of a deal with IS.

He also denied membership of the terrorist group, saying he never swore allegiance and was just a civilian.

He claimed he had tried to leave IS territory from mid-2015 and did not handle guns.

Abdul Iqbal KC, defending, said Suleman had been an "immature and idealistic" young man who wanted to help people "in distress" and who took part in "non-combat duties" with IS.

He argued that his client had "firmly" decided within five months of joining the terrorist organisation that he wished to "flee".

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