Man accused of terrorism offences ‘had document about making suicide vests’
Abdullah Yousef, 24, from Milton Keynes is on trial at Birmingham Crown Court
Last updated 24th Sep 2026
A man accused of being a member of the so-called Islamic State (IS) wanted to join the terror group in Africa and had a document on his phone about how to produce suicide vests, a court has heard.
Abdullah Yousef, 24, had an “apparent interest” in making explosives and created a Telegram messaging group in May 2024 in which a large body of IS-generated material was shared, a trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard on Thursday.
Yousef, of Galapagos Grove, in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, denies one count each of membership of a proscribed organisation (Islamic State) and collecting information of a kind likely to be useful to a terrorist, and six counts of dissemination of terrorist publications.
Opening the Crown’s case against Yousef, Frederick Hookway said more than 7,000 photographs, 21,000 videos and 270 links were shared in the Telegram group, of which the defendant was listed as the owner, including “instructional material” such as a video about an “amazing way” to make a bomb.
“This is not so much glorification, but actual technical assistance on bombs and explosives,” Mr Hookway told the jury.
The defendant also published messages where he advised members, of which there were a total of 162 between May 2024 and December 2025, to “take precautions”, including publishing rules for the group.
Mr Hookway said: “The inference here is that these instructions were aimed, the prosecution say, to prevent the group from being detected, because of the purpose behind it.”
The group also included a publication issued by the IS which spoke about using knives and vehicles in terror attacks, and referenced the 2016 truck attack in Nice, France, in which 86 people were killed.
A series of messages sent to another user on Telegram also included a link to a video on how to make explosive belts and vests.
In a different Telegram conversation, another person asked Yousef if he would go to Africa to join the “soldiers of Dawla (IS)”, to which he allegedly replied: “Yes… there is empowerment, they have power in Mozambique”.
In other messages, Yousef is alleged to have said: “I heard some people do make it to Africa now… I want to know how.”
Mr Hookway said: “This appears to be an expression of his enthusiasm for potentially physically joining the movement of the IS … Putting it bluntly the prosecution say he wants to know how to go about getting to Africa to join the IS.”
The barrister said the jury may find there was “little interpretation needed” of a Facebook message in which Yousef allegedly said, “You know that I support Isis” and “By the way I am a terrorist”.
The defendant is also alleged to have had a 15-page document in a Telegram data folder on his phone which said it was “aimed for personal development and knowledge of Mujahideen” and discussed in detail how to construct an explosive vest, with details of how to include ball bearings or nails as shrapnel to injure more people.
An expert in explosives, who was asked to look at the document and comment on the viability of what was being described, said it contained information that was “credible and potentially of use to someone preparing an improvised explosive device”.
Although there was no information on how to make explosives in that newsletter, the document said guidance on this would follow in a further text.
“The prosecution say this is a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism,” Mr Hookway told the jury.
“You might wonder what other purpose there could be for a document of this type.”
Yousef also allegedly told another Telegram user he had finished studies in electricity which was supposed to “help me make explosives” but said he wanted to learn more from the “archive” of IS materials.
Asked by the Telegram contact if he wanted to “make explosives or go into battle”, Yousef is alleged to have replied: “Both, if I can make a good one that would work here. I don’t mind.”
Yousef is also alleged to have sent videos including one featuring IS fighters and an IS commander that the prosecution say appears to “encourage or glorify” the terror group, another about the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York sent on the anniversary of the incident in 2025 and two others in which armed men and the IS flag are visible.
Other examples of messages found on Yousef’s devices after they were seized by police pointed to his mindset, Mr Hookway said, including agreeing that he “envied” people who had joined IS, a reference in September 2024 that he did not think it was a good idea to “keep sending money to Syria”, and answering yes when asked if he believed executions were justified.
Yousef was arrested in December 2025 following a counter terror investigation but largely answered no comment when interviewed by police under caution, Mr Hookway said.
He told the jury they would have to determine whether Yousef did profess membership to the IS, how aware he was of the nature of the documents he was sharing and the purpose of sharing them, as well as to consider his denial that it was based on any intention to share terrorist publications.
“It may be his contention that this was all accessed out of curiosity,” Mr Hookway said.
“The prosecution say this defendant did have sympathies towards IS extremism and he shared their publications, deliberately intending to invoke support or at least being reckless about it.
“You will decide those issues on the evidence.
“The prosecution make the allegations, the defendant doesn’t have to prove anything.
“We must make you sure. Anything less than that will not suffice.”
The trial continues.