The cousin of girls dubbed the “teenage terror twins” after they joined Islamic State will be sentenced for helping a friend go to Syria.
From his mother’s home in Manchester, A-level student Abdullahi Ahmed Jama Farah, 20, created a “hub of communication” for his “Mandem” group of like-minded extremists.
Following a trial at the Old Bailey he was found guilty of preparing for terrorist acts by helping Nur Hassan, 19, from Manchester, achieve his aim of travelling to Syria to fight.
Jama Farah is related to the so-called “terror twins”, Zhara and Salma Halane, who at the age of 16 left their home in Chorlton in Manchester in June 2014 and are believed to have married IS fighters.
Prosecutor Gareth Patterson had told jurors it was clear that Jama Farah supported IS from what was found on his computers as well as messages on WhatsApp and social media.
Mr Patterson said he performed an “important role as the hub of communication” in the UK.
Jama Farah, who is Danish and of Somali origin, was in communication with four other friends abroad, two of whom are believed to have been killed and another badly injured in fighting.
His cousin Ahmed Ibrahim Halane, known as Pie, from Manchester, went to Somalia in September 2013, where he is thought to have joined the terrorist group al-Shabab.
Halane, brother of the “terror twins”, is currently in Copenhagen, banned from returning to the UK.
Close friends Raphael Hostey, Mohammed Javeed and Khalil Raoufi headed from north west England to Syria on October 6 2013 to join IS, the court heard.
Raoufi and Hostey went on to encourage others from England and around the world to swell their ranks in postings on Twitter.
Raoufi, also known as Abu Layth, was killed in combat in February 2014 and Hostey, or Al Qaqa, was shot in the foot.
Javeed, nicknamed Prinny, ended up in Iraq where, it emerged during the trial, he blew himself up in a suicide attack.
During his evidence, the defendant confirmed that when he twice discussed with his friends “doing a Prinny”, that was what they were referring to.
After Jama Farah was arrested on March 11 2014, he told police that he knew them all through his cousin Halane, who was “emir”, or leader, of their group of close friends.
Jama Farah, of South Grove, Longsight, Manchester, denied wrongdoing. He was cast by his defence as an over-excited teenager sitting in his bedroom at home on his computer in contact with his friends and passing on phone numbers, concerned for their welfare.
Following a trial in February, the jury convicted him of facilitating Hassan’s travel to Syria and for his communication with Raoufi.
He faces jail when he is sentenced by Judge Michael Topolski at the Old Bailey later.
