Bolton Man Jailed For Having Terror Info

A man from Greater Manchester has been jailed for two years and three months for holding documents about how to make bombs.

Asim Kausar, 25, from Bolton, had the information on a computer memory stick which contained details about the toxin ricin, assassination and torture techniques, and how to construct improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The documents were entitled Improvised Munitions Handbook and Unconventional Warfare Devices and Techniques.

The information only came to light after Kausar's family suffered a burglary and the memory stick was handed to police so officers could view CCTV images of the break-in recorded on the device. Kausar's hoard of terror-related information was found when police analysed the memory stick.

He told officers he had downloaded the information out of "curiosity and a thirst for knowledge''.

Kausar, of Bardon Close, Halliwell, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Manchester Crown Court to four counts of collecting a record of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism between January 1 2009 and June 4 2011. 

There was also no evidence to suggest Kausar had any links to terrorists or had tried to pass the information on to others.

Sentencing him, the Recorder of Manchester, Judge Andrew Gilbart QC said: "I accept that all of this material is available on the internet and can be bought from retailers such as Amazon and I accept some of it is out of date".

"But that makes them no less dangerous or any less useful to a person committing an act of terrorism.