A 21-year-old Scottish student from a respected family was today convicted of designing a website to promote suicide attacks and threatening to blow up Glasgow.

Mohammed Atif Siddique, from Clackmannanshire, near Stirling in central Scotland, was been found guilty of "serious terrorism offences" which posed a genuine threat to the UK, he could be jailed for up to 15 years.

Siddique was well-known in the town of Alva for helping out in his family’s shop, but when police officers raided his home they uncovered a cache of terrorist material.

The student, of Pakistani origin, has become the first British-born Muslim convicted of terrorism offences in Scotland, three months after a failed car-bomb attack on Glasgow Airport.

‘Items sent as earthquake aid’

Hidden among clothing were goods selected and purchased to support the activities of terrorists, a court was told

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Siddique was arrested at the same airport as he and his uncle prepared to board a flight to Lahore in Pakistan, in April last year.

He had been under surveillance by security services for several months and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, was quick to praise their work today.

“I want to thank the men and women in the police and security service who worked extremely hard on this case,” she said. “The successful conviction of the individual today in Glasgow is a reminder that the threat we face from terrorism is real and not isolated to any particular region.”

The trial lasted almost four weeks and the jury returned guilty verdicts for possessing CDs and videos that could be used for terrorist purposes, setting up websites with links to terrorist publications and breaching the peace by threatening to become a suicide bomber and showing images of beheadings to fellow students at Glasgow Metropolitan College.

Brian McConnachie, QC, for the prosecution, told the court: "This is not somebody who is carrying out systematic research into Islamic politics and the difficulties of Muslims in the Middle East. This is a wannabe suicide bomber.

"There is a constant theme and that is Mohammed Atif Siddique wanted to become a suicide bomber and would become famous."

The sites he ran glorified suicide attackers and gave users links to terrorist publications with information on guerrilla warfare, light and heavy weaponry, and how to make explosives and booby trap devices.

A CD found under a carpet in his home included footage produced by the official al-Qaeda media wing and featured the voice of Osama Bin Laden and an Australian radical denouncing the West.

Siddique showed students at his college violent jihadist images and footage of beheadings, he also threatened to become a suicide bomber and attack Glasgow.

Judge Lord Carloway warned Siddique that he was considering an extended sentence which would mean a jail term of up to 15 years, followed by a term on licence.

“You have been convicted of significant contraventions of the Terrorism Act, in particular on charge one of having articles in your possession for the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism,” he told the court.

Aamer Anwar, Siddique’s solicitor, denounced the trial: “This verdict is a tragedy for justice and for freedom of speech and undermines the values that separate us from the terrorists, the very values we should be fighting to protect.

“The prosecution was driven by the state, with no limit to the money and resources used to secure a conviction in this case, carried out in an atmosphere of hostility after the Glasgow Airport attack and ending on the anniversary of 9/11.

“It is farcical that part of the evidence against Atif was that he grew a beard, had documents in Arabic which he could not even read, and downloaded material from a legitimate Israeli website.”

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