Manuals Found At Aberdeen Student's Flat 'Could've Been Used To Produce Explosives'
An expert's told a court that AL Qaeda instruction manuals found on an external hard drive at a medical student's Aberdeen flat could be used to produce explosive devices.
Gareth Phillips, an explosives expert based in England, was giving evidence at the trial of 29-year-old Yousif Badri who denies three terrorism charges.
Mr Phillips examined articles taken from Al Qaeda magazine Inspire and an explosives training manual.
He told the jury at the High Court in Glasgow: "The majority of information in the documents is correct, although there are some mistakes. In my opinion it would enable someone to make explosives or incendiary devices, although some of the information is incomplete or inaccurate."
Referring to one of the articles showing how to make a pipe bomb, Mr Phillips said: "It could cause serious damage to persons or property."
He was then asked by prosecutor Richard Goddard: "Why are nails added to this device," and he replied: "Adding nails to a device increase shrapnel."
The jury has heard that a laptop computer, external hard drive and a memory stick were among items seized on Jube 6, 2013, when police raided Badri's flat at Ashgrove Road, Aberdeen.
Thousands of files were found on the external hard drive and Police Scotland estimated it would take up to two years to examine them.
The court heard that the police identified 3,000 files and asked computer expert Paul Tyreman to examine them.
He said that he found a copy of a driving licence in the name of Badri and word documents in relation to the sale of the flat in Ashgrove Road.
Mr Tyreman said he also found documents relating to university work.
Under cross-examination Mr Tyreman was asked by defence QC Murdo Macleod: "Is it correct that none of the devices in this case were password protected," and he replied: "I believe that's correct,"
Mr Macleod then said: "None of the documents were encrypted and Mr Tyreman replied: "That's correct.."
The court heard that Badri's laptop had a system downloaded which prevented people from finding our location or browsing habits.
Mr Macleod said that this had been downloaded by Badri's sister who is police officer specialising in forensic analysis with West Yorkshire Police.
He then asked Mr Tyreman if he had this downloaded on his computer and he agreed he had and added: "It mean when I got to an internet cafe no one can see my documents."
The court was told the download is freely available on the internet.
Badri faces a number of allegations including an accusation he was involved in conduct "with the intention of committing acts of terrorism".
The offences are said to have been carried out at two places in Aberdeen -Badri's former flat in Ashgrove Road and in Berryden Retail Park.
Badri's current address in Halifax, West Yorkshire, also features in the alleged offences.
Prosecutors claim that between 2007 and 2013 Badri collected or made a record of information likely to be useful to a person "committing or preparing an act of terrorism". This allegedly included footage of terror attacks as well as instructions on "urban assassinations" and "guerrilla tactics".
The second charge alleges that Badri "with the intention of committing acts of terrorism" engaged in various actions between 2006 and 2013.
Accusations listed in the indictment include a claim he had an "equipment list" for attending a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
He is also said to have possessed "advice for those involved in conducting terrorist attack planning operations".
The charge further states that he had documents, recordings and files containing "extreme ideology".
The final accusation claims that on April 16 last year Badri posted on Twitter the phrase: "Whoever feels safe from punishment, misbehaves".
The comment is said to have come from a copy of the Inspire magazine - described as being published by the "propaganda wing" of Al-Qaeda.
Badri denies all the charges against him.
The trial before judge Lord Turnbull continues.