Latest news with #JasonSavage
Telegraph
11-04-2025
- Telegraph
Muslim convert films reconnaissance mission for mosque attack
A Muslim convert filmed reconnaissance of a mosque he planned to 'flatten' in a terror attack. In January, Jason Savage was found guilty of plotting to stab an Islamic cleric who was an outspoken critic of terrorism after jurors were shown footage of him filming his reconnaissance 'mission' near the mosque and Islamic bookshop in Birmingham. On Friday, the 35-year-old, from Birmingham, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years at the city's Crown Court on Friday after a judge said messages he had sent showed that he believed he would die while committing a terrorist attack. Mrs Justice Farbey, the High Court judge, said she was sure the defendant had identified the police and military as targets, but that his 'primary focus' was the Birmingham-based cleric. The judge told Savage, who suffers from an emotionally unstable personality disorder: 'I am sure that you were actively planning an Isis-inspired lone wolf attack, meaning that you were not a member of Isis but were motivated to carry out a violent attack by yourself. 'I am sure that you were ready and willing to carry out a deadly attack by using a knife.' The judge said the offending in the case was so serious that a life sentence was required, adding: 'I accept you may not always be able to exercise appropriate judgment in the heat of the moment. However, your offending took place over a number of days and cannot be described as impulsive.' Video footage released by West Midlands Police after Savage was convicted showed him filming near a mosque in Wright Street, Small Heath. On the video, Savage recorded himself saying: 'That seems like the best way to get away – the police will probably come from that way.' As well as charting different routes into the mosque, Savage, who had adapted the handle of a knife found at his home, was heard to say: 'Just needs the means now. Ask Allah to give man the means bro.' A three-week trial was told Savage was arrested shortly after sending online messages to someone he did not know was an undercover officer, saying he was waiting to see what 'opportunities come to present itself'. Undercover confessions Jurors also heard that Savage had taken screenshots of the West Midlands Police headquarters, police stations in Perry Barr and Stechford, and various military locations in Birmingham, and had told the undercover officer he was putting his neck on a 'chopping block'. Prosecutors said Savage, who converted to Islam in 2012, carried out reconnaissance with a view to attacking a cleric, bookshop and mosque in the Small Heath area, whose approach to the Salafi movement was 'entirely at odds' with his own. The mosque, store and publishing house advocated a strand of Salafism that stresses the importance of non-involvement in social or political activism, the court heard, while the cleric was an 'outspoken critic' of Islamist terrorism, arguing that it was entirely incompatible with the true essence of Islam. At some point early last year, the trial heard, Savage broke the handle off a kitchen knife and replaced it with cloth, before changing his social media status to 'Lone Wolf'. Shortly before his arrest, he had messaged the undercover officer, referring to seeing him in 'paradise' and telling him he would send him videos over the 'next couple of days' which he asked to be 'propagated' to reach the right people. Savage, who was convicted of a single count of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts on or before March 14 last year, said 'no problem' as he was led away to the cells. The sentencing judge was told his criminal history started with a 2002 arson conviction, when he was aged 12, before convictions for 20 other offences, including a violent armed robbery. Prosecutor Peter Ratliff said Savage had in the past set fire to furniture in his cell, and had posted social media messages saying he was delighted to hear prison staff had been 'stabbed up' after what he claimed was a plot against Muslim inmates. Savage has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following childhood trauma, the court was told. Commenting on the case, Bethan David, the head of the counter-terrorism division of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Jason Savage actively plotted to attack a cleric whose views he disagreed with, and other people. The CPS will continue to work to ensure those that plan to commit violent acts in the name of ideology and extremism are prosecuted.'
The Independent
11-04-2025
- The Independent
Life term for Muslim convert who planned attacks on mosque and military targets
A Muslim convert who researched military locations and threatened to 'flatten' a mosque in a terror attack has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years. Jason Savage was found guilty in January of plotting to stab an Islamic cleric who was an outspoken critic of terrorism, after jurors were shown footage of him filming a reconnaissance 'mission' near a mosque and Islamic bookstore. The 35-year-old, of Fourth Avenue, Small Heath, Birmingham, was jailed at the city's Crown Court on Friday after a judge said messages he had sent showed that he believed he would die while committing a terrorist attack. Passing sentence on Savage, High Court Judge Mrs Justice Farbey said she was sure the defendant had identified the police and military as targets but that his 'primary focus' was the Birmingham-based cleric. The judge told Savage, who suffers from an emotionally unstable personality disorder: 'I am sure that you were actively planning an Isis-inspired lone wolf attack, meaning that you were not a member of Isis but were motivated to carry out a violent attack by yourself. 'I am sure that you were ready and willing to carry out a deadly attack by using a knife.' The judge said the offending in the case was so serious that a life sentence was required, adding: 'I accept you may not always be able to exercise appropriate judgement in the heat of the moment, however your offending took place over a number of days and cannot be described as impulsive.' Video footage released by West Midlands Police after Savage was convicted showed him filming reconnaissance near a mosque in Wright Street, Small Heath, Birmingham, in March last year. On the video, Savage recorded himself saying: 'That seems like the best way to get away – the police will probably come from that way.' As well as charting different routes into the mosque, Savage, who had adapted the handle of a knife found at his home, was heard to say: 'Just needs the means now. 'Ask Allah to give man the means bro.' A three-week trial was told Savage was arrested shortly after sending online messages to someone he did not know was an undercover officer, saying he was waiting to see what 'opportunities come to present itself'. Jurors also heard that Savage had taken screenshots of the West Midlands Police headquarters, police stations in Perry Barr and Stechford and various military locations in Birmingham, and told the undercover officer he was putting his neck on a 'chopping block'. Prosecutors said Savage, who converted to Islam in 2012, carried out reconnaissance with a view to attacking a cleric, bookstore and mosque in the Small Heath area, whose approach to the Salafi movement was 'entirely at odds' with his own. The mosque, store and publishing house advocated a strand of Salafism that stresses the importance of non-involvement in social or political activism, the court heard, while the cleric was an 'outspoken critic' of Islamist terrorism, arguing that it was entirely incompatible with the true essence of Islam. At some point in early 2024, the trial heard, Savage broke the handle off a kitchen knife and replaced it with cloth, before changing his social media status to 'Lone Wolf'. Shortly before his arrest, Savage had messaged the undercover officer, referring to seeing him in 'paradise' and telling him he would send him videos over the 'next couple of days' which he asked be 'propagated' to reach the right people. Savage, who was convicted of a single count of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts on or before March 14 last year, said 'no problem' as he was led away to the cells. The sentencing judge was told his criminal history started with a 2002 arson conviction, when he was aged 12, before convictions for 20 other offences, including a violent armed robbery. Prosecutor Peter Ratliff said Savage had in the past set fire to furniture in his cell and posted social media messages saying he was delighted to hear prison staff had been 'stabbed up' after what he claimed was a plot against Muslim inmates. Savage has also been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following childhood trauma, the court was told. Commenting on the case, Bethan David, head of the Counter Terrorism Division of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Jason Savage actively plotted to attack a cleric whose views he disagreed with, and other people. 'The CPS will continue to work to ensure those that plan to commit violent acts in the name of ideology and extremism are prosecuted.'
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Yahoo
Muslim convert gets life over mosque terror plot
A Muslim convert who researched military locations and threatened to "flatten" a Birmingham mosque in a terror attack has been jailed for life. Jason Savage, from Small Heath, Birmingham, was found guilty in January of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts, having plotted to stab an Islamic cleric who was an outspoken critic of terrorism. At Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, Judge Mrs Justice Farbey told Savage she was sure he had been actively planning a "lone wolf attack" inspired by the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group. He was told he would serve a minimum term of 16 years. IS, also known as Isis or Daesh in Arabic, became notorious for taking over huge swathes of Syria and Iraq and meting out cruel punishments and murders, then posting the videos online. At his trial, jurors were shown footage of Savage filming a reconnaissance exercise near a mosque and Islamic bookstore on Wright Street, Small Heath, in March last year. Savage can be seen recording himself saying of the scene: "That seems like the best way to get away - the police will probably come from that way." As well as charting different routes into the mosque, Savage was heard to say: "Ask Allah to give man the means, bro." The three-week trial was told Savage was arrested shortly after sending online messages about his ambitions to someone he believed to be sympathetic to his cause, whom he did not realise was an undercover police officer. He told them he was waiting to see what "opportunities come to present itself". Jurors also heard Savage had taken screenshots of West Midlands Police headquarters, police stations in the Perry Barr and Stechford areas of Birmingham, and various military locations in the city, telling the undercover officer he was putting his neck on a "chopping block". During the sentencing hearing, the judge said that while police and military locations were clearly targets, she was sure Savage's "primary focus" was the Birmingham-based cleric. She said: "I am sure that you were ready and willing to carry out a deadly attack by using a knife." Savage, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following childhood trauma, converted to Islam in 2012. Prosecutors said he carried out reconnaissance with a view to attacking the cleric, bookstore and mosque over an approach to the Salafi movement that was "entirely at odds" with his own. Salafists are Islamic fundamentalists who seek to adhere the example of the Prophet Muhammad and the first generations who followed him. The mosque, store and publishing house advocated a strand of Salafism that stressed the importance of non-involvement in social or political activism, the court heard, while the cleric was an "outspoken critic" of Islamist terrorism, arguing that it was entirely incompatible with the true essence of the faith. At some point in early 2024, the trial heard, Savage broke the handle off a kitchen knife and replaced it with cloth, before changing his social media status to "Lone Wolf". Shortly before his arrest, Savage had messaged the undercover officer, referring to seeing him in "paradise" and telling him he would send videos over the "next couple of days" which he asked be "propagated" to reach the right people. Judge Farbey said because Savage's offending took place over a number of days it "cannot be described as impulsive". As he was led to the cells, Savage was heard to say "no problem". Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Muslim convert found guilty of planned terror acts Muslim convert planned mosque attack, trial hears HM Courts & Tribunals Services
