Man faces jail time for helping suspect

A MAN is facing jail after being found guilty of helping an Oldham murder suspect flee to Syria.

Mohammed Syadul Hussain gave Mohammed Abdul Kadir getaway money - used to head for ISIS-occupied territory - after Kadir allegedly bludgeoned to death an elderly faith healer in Rochdale.

In a Manchester Crown Court trial, Hussain, 25, of Samson Street, Rochdale, denied assisting an offender, but has been found unanimously guilty.

Murder victim Jalal Uddin practised taweez - an Islamic form of faith healing involving "spells, amulets and numerology", which is viewed by religious extremists as "black magic", jurors were told.

Last year Mohammed Syeedy, 22, of Ramsay Street, Rochdale, was jailed for life after being convicted of Mr Uddin's murder.

Kadir, of Chamber Road, Oldham, is said to be the one who struck the fatal blows, but he has never been tried because he flew to Turkey, the main route into ISIS for European jihadis, in the aftermath.

The trip was funded by Hussain, who had welcomed news of Mr Uddin's death and had obtained a video of him dying at the scene taken by a witness.

Jurors were told he posted the words, "One less Shaitan (devil) in England innit".

The court heard both Syeedy and Kadir were supporters of ISIS, who promote violence against those who practise "magic".

Hussain was said to be a "fellow sympathiser" and kept updated of a six-month campaign the pair waged against Mr Uddin in which his religious materials were stolen, and he was photographed, filmed and stalked.

The court has heard Syeedy and his friends wanted Mr Uddin deported as an overstayer. But after seeing him pictured outside a mosque with Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk they feared Mr Uddin, who they nicknamed "Voldemort", wouldn't be "busted".

On the evening of February 18, it is believed Kadir set upon Mr Uddin as he walked through a park in Wardleworth, Rochdale, striking him repeatedly to the head and face with a hammer.

After the killing, Syeedy and Kadir met with Hussain in Rochdale. Then on February 20, Hussain gave Kadir £700 in cash, which the alleged killer used to book flights to Turkey.

Opening the case two weeks ago, prosecutor Paul Greaney QC said "(Hussain) had a shared mindset" to the killers, and that it was "contrary to all common sense to suggest they would have kept from him what they had done".