Man convicted of terrorism offences

Sam Imrie was convicted of terrorism offences

A man who hated Muslims and idolised right-wing mass murderers has been convicted of terrorism charges after a two-week trial.

Sam Imrie, 24, was arrested in July 2019 after he posted messages on social media saying he was planning to set fire to the Fife Islamic Centre.

Imrie was convicted on two charges of breaching the terrorism act.

He was also convicted of wilful fire raising, possessing child and "extreme" pornography and drink-driving.

Serious offences

Imrie, who was remanded in custody, was told that judge Lord Mulholland needed a background report before he could be sentenced.

But the judge also warned Imrie: "You will not be surprised to know that you will be receiving a sentence of some length."

During the trial, the High Court in Edinburgh was told that Imrie, from Glenrothes, left school at 14 and had developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after being assaulted.

He became "steeped" in right-wing ideology and started to "hate" Muslims after looking at extremist content on websites such as 8Chan and messaging app Telegram.

Imrie posted online: "All my heroes are mass murderers."

He was said to have "glorified" the activities of Anders Breivik - the terrorist who slaughtered 77 people in Norway in 2011.

He also studied the exploits of the far right activist who slaughtered Muslims praying at their mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March 2019.

The 24-year-old was said to have wanted Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon "to die" because of her attitudes to immigration.

His arrest came after the Metropolitan Police in London infiltrated the "FashWave Artists" group on Telegram, on which Imrie posted messages, images, videos and gifs.

The 24-year-old threatened to target the Fife Islamic Centre in Glenrothes

They contacted Police Scotland and Imrie was taken into custody in early July 2019.

Officers carried out a forensic search of his property, where they recovered weapons including an axe, a hammer, a rife scope and two knives.

Imrie had posted a comment about how he was thinking about carrying out an attack and was considering streaming it.

In one posting he wrote: "No guns. All I can do is burn them down."

Defence solicitor advocate Jim Keegan QC said Imrie visited the Islamic Centre in Glenrothes on 4 July 2019 in broad daylight but did not do anything.

Instead, his client went to the dilapidated Strathmore Lodge, in Thornton, Fife, and set fire to a doorway. He filmed it and claimed to the group it was a mosque or Islamic centre.

Mr Keegan added: "The effect on his audience was that they ridiculed him.

Imrie said his comments were a joke and he was not serious about setting a mosque on fire.

The trial heard Imrie targeted a derelict building

The jury were shown pictures of the damage caused by the fire

On Wednesday, Imrie was convicted of a terrorism charge of making statements on Telegram and Facebook which encouraged acts of terrorism.

A second charge stated Imrie made a "record of information" which would be useful to somebody who was committing acts of terrorism.

He was acquitted of a terrorism charge which stated that he engaged in conduct in "preparation" of terrorism acts.

After his arrest, his mum Joyce told police: "I would describe him as a loner who rarely leaves his room. He has no friends that I know of and he has no visitors to the house. He has never had a girlfriend that I know of."

Police also confiscated a USB stick from Imrie. The images contained "extreme" pornographic images of dead women being subjected to sexual acts.

Imrie is expected to be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on 24 November.