Convicted terrorist given five-month sentence for prison attack

Abdullah Ahmed Jama Farah was previously convicted of a terror offence following a trial at the Old Bailey

A convicted terrorist who punched a prison officer has been sentenced to an extra five months behind bars.

Abdullah Ahmed Jama Farah was being returned to his cell at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire when he assaulted the officer on 8 April.

Worcester Crown Court heard Jama Farah punched him in the neck and face.

The 26-year-old, from Manchester, is currently serving a seven-year sentence after being found guilty of preparing for terrorist acts.

He was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2016 after creating a communications hub to help extremists linked to the so-called Islamic State in Syria.

The court heard Jama Farah was being returned to the segregation unit when he attacked the officer.

Prosecutor Alison Scott-Jones told the court: "The victim was dazed and hurt and describes himself as struggling to breathe."

The injured officer was forced to leave the scene of the attack crawling on his hands and knees, suffered bruising, swelling to his throat, and could not work for two weeks.

He also suffered from daily headaches and had problems sleeping.

'Extremely remorseful'

Defence barrister Zayd Ahmed described Jama Farah, who appeared via video link on his 26th birthday, was a "model prisoner" who had recently been engaging with probation and was extremely remorseful about what had happened.

His latest court appearance comes four months after a panel refused his parole after concerns about his behaviour emerged.

Jama Farah, who is Danish and of Somali origin, was convicted of preparing for terrorism acts between 2013 and 2014 when he assisted Nur Hassan, from Moss Side, Manchester, by facilitating his travel to Syria.

He was also in contact with several other men - one reportedly an associate of Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi - who left the north-west of England for Syria in October 2013.

Sentencing Jama Farah for the assault, Judge James Burbidge QC ruled that the blow to the throat was "not a deliberate act of asphyxiation."

The judge said Jama Farah, who is now working as a prison cleaner, would have received a longer sentence if he had not pleaded guilty to the assault.

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