A man who tried to frame a Blackburn man as a terrorist has been jailed.
Usman Ahmed (15/12/1985) of Southville Road, Bedford, has been sentenced to five years and four months today (Wednesday 3 October 2018) at Manchester Crown Square Court.
He previously pleaded guilty to one count of completing a series of acts intending to pervert the course of justice.
On 26 June 2018 Ahmed disguised his voice in a call to Lancashire Police where he stated a man in Blackburn had disclosed to him he was imminently going to commit attacks against Hindu temples in the UK.
He further claimed that he had serious concerns about the man and had even seen detailed documents outlining the plans.
Officers, believing there to be an imminent threat to the safety of the public, launched an investigation and carried out a search of the man’s home and car where they uncovered paperwork detailing plans for an attack.
The man was immediately arrested for terrorism offences and taken in to custody for questioning.
Due to the seriousness of the offences under investigation, as well as the potential risk to the public at large, a team of detectives from Counter Terrorism Policing were involved. They took various steps in an effort to trace the original call and ultimately identified Usman Ahmed.
Detectives travelled to his home address on the 29th June 2018 and questioned him. Ahmed admitted he made a false report and lied about everything in an effort to seek revenge against the man in question.
His account to police detailed a complex conspiracy to make the man look guilty, dating back to as early as April that year. This included placing a tracker on the man’s car, breaking into his vehicle to plant physical evidence and using various SIM cards to cover his tracks.
Further enquiries corroborated the admission and the previously arrested man was immediately released from custody with no further action taken against him.
Instead, Ahmed was arrested on suspicion of completing a series of acts intending to pervert the course of justice.
Detective Superintendent Will Chatterton, Head of Investigations for Counter Terrorism Policing North West, said: “This was a premeditated and highly organised campaign of deception by Ahmed to try and frame an innocent man.
“He went as far as planting evidence in a bid to see this man convicted of atrocious crimes and to be seen by the world as a terrorist.
“Thankfully, officers foiled his deceit and when confronted by detectives, Ahmed realised the severity of the accusations he had made and admitted it was all a lie.
“His false claims placed an innocent man in an unthinkable position, caused understandable concerns in the community and wasted the valuable time of officers who had to pause investigations into other serious matters in order to ensure the public were safe from an alleged imminent terrorist attack.”
