Glenrothes mosque terror plot accused said threats were 'a joke'

Sam Imrie is accused of targeting the Fife Islamic Centre in Glenrothes

A man accused of terrorism offences told police his claim he was going to set fire to a mosque was a "joke", a court has heard.

After his arrest, Sam Imrie told officers he wasn't serious when he claimed on social media that he planned to broadcast live to internet users.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard a recording of the 24-year-old being interviewed by detectives in July 2019.

Mr Imrie denies nine charges, including three under the Terrorism Act.

Investigating officers believed he was plotting a terrorist attack at Fife Islamic Centre in Glenrothes.

Mr Imrie told them he had been drinking when he allegedly posted comments on instant messaging app Telegram.

Speaking about a series of comments in which he said he "hated" Jewish, Black and Muslim people, he told them: "I wouldn't do it if I was sober."

The evidence emerged on the fifth day of proceedings against Mr Imrie, who is from Glenrothes.

'White nationalist'

During the interview at Glasgow's Govan police station, he was asked about a series of postings he made on a group on Telegram called "FashWave Artists".

Earlier the court heard that the group hosted images and texts of terrorists such as Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant.

Breivik carried out a mass shooting in Norway which resulted in the deaths of 77 people in 2011 and Tarrant was responsible for murdering 51 people at mosques in Christchurch New Zealand in 2019.

Mr Imrie told officers during the interview that he was a "white nationalist". He added: "I care about my race."

He also said he believed that non-white people were "inferior" to whites but that Chinese people were "superior".

One charge claims that Sam Imrie damaged a headstone at St Drostan's cemetery in Markinch by starting a fire

The court had heard that Mr Imrie had visited Fife Islamic Centre and made a video of it, saying he was going to set fire to it.

When police asked him whether this was the case, he said: "It was a joke."

Det Con Melanie Hamblett told the court that officers carried out a "vulnerability" assessment of Mr Imrie before interviewing him.

She said police had discovered that he had attempted suicide in 2018 by drinking four litres of vodka.

The court also heard that he was a self-harmer and that he was once treated by a psychiatrist for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Det Con Hamblett said the accused was co-operative.

'Nazism' audio files

Police cybercrime expert Robert Steer later told the court he had examined Mr Imrie's computer following his arrest.

The jury were shown a digitally altered image of pop star Taylor Swift found on the computer, depicting her wearing items of clothing with Nazi symbols.

Mr Steer said the computer had a single user account with an offensive name, and had been used to register on a social media site with two further offensive user names.

He said the device also contained thousands of images which could be associated with far right extremism, 100 "anti Muslim, anti Jewish, anti black and anti refugee" videos and 104 audio files.

Speaking about the content on the MP3s, Mr Steer said: "I listened to one or two of them. They were talking about things relating to Nazism and how the holocaust didn't exist."

He also told the court he found a total of 29 indecent images of children on the machine.

'Carried out observations'

Mr Imrie is accused of publishing statements, images and video footage glorifying terrorist acts committed by Tarrant and Breivik.

He is accused of posting statements on Telegram indicating he planned to stream live footage of "an incident" and posting statements suggesting he was going to carry out an attack on the Fife Islamic Centre.

Prosecutors allege that he collected information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and that Mr Imrie possessed a quantity of "Nazi, neo-Nazi, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and other racist" texts and audio files which "glorified terrorism".

He is said to have driven to the Fife Islamic Centre in Poplar Road, where he "carried out observations" whilst in possession of a can of petrol. It is said that he later posted images of the place of worship to Telegram.

It is also alleged that he then went to St Drostan's cemetery at Markinch, Fife, and set fire to a property there.

He also faces charges concerning child pornography, possessing "extreme" pornographic material and being found "unfit to drive through drink or drugs" in July 2019.

The trial, before judge Lord Mulholland, continues.