Online dating couple 'plotted bombing'

Munir Mohammed and Rowaida El-Hassan met on a dating website

A couple who met on a dating website have gone on trial accused of plotting a terror attack using a homemade bomb.

Munir Mohammed, 36, of Leopold Street, Derby, allegedly volunteered for a "new job in the UK", via Facebook with a man he believed was an IS commander.

The Old Bailey heard he met pharmacist Rowaida El-Hassan, 33, of Willesden Lane, north-west London, online and she provided chemical expertise.

Both deny the charge of preparing terrorist acts.

Police sealed off a street in Derby when Munir Mohammed was arrested

Mr Mohammed and Ms El-Hassan are accused of preparing terrorist acts between November 2015 and December 2016.

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After meeting on dating site singlemuslim.com, the pair "rapidly formed emotional attachment and a shared ideology", the prosecution said.

The court was told the defendants exchanged materials and views at a time Mr Mohammed was planning an attack "motivated and inspired by what he had seen and heard on social media".

Anne Whyte QC said: "The prosecution allege that Munir Mohammed had resolved upon a lone wolf attack and that Rowaida El-Hassan was aware of his engagement with such a plan.

"Rowaida El-Hassan had a professional knowledge of chemicals because of her professional training and qualifications."

When arrested in December 2016, Mr Mohammed allegedly had two of the three components for explosives and instruction manuals on how to prepare explosives, mobile phone detonators and nerve agent ricin, the jury heard.

The court heard that in August 2016, he pledged allegiance to a man known as Abubakr Kurdi, who he believed was an IS commander.

He offered to participate in "a new job in the UK", said to mean an act of terrorism, jurors were told.

However, a month later Mr Mohammed allegedly complained he had not received his instructions, saying: "If possible send how we make dough for Syrian bread and other types of food."

Ms Whyte told the jury "dough" was a code word for explosives and "Syrian bread and other types of food" was a crude reference to a device.

The trial continues.