Terrorist returned to UK prison for owning moped

Trevor Mulindwa had been jailed for six years for trying to join Al Shabab

Trevor Mulindwa was jailed in 2015 after trying to join Al Shabab. Metropolitan Police

A convicted terrorist who tried to travel to Somalia to join Al Shabab was back in a British jail after breaking the terms of his early release by owning a moped.

Trevor Mulindwa, 25, was recalled to prison in November after police learned that he also kept a banned smartphone in the moped’s carrier box, London's Metropolitan Police said.

He had been barred from using the internet after radicalising himself using online sources, and was ordered to tell police if he planned to buy a motor vehicle.

Mulindwa was jailed for six years in 2015 after his arrest in a prayer room at Heathrow Airport in London before he was to board a flight for Mogadishu.

He had sought to travel to Somalia after being released from hospital, where he was being treated during the last days of another jail sentence for drugs offences.

Mulindwa was arrested while trying to travel to Somalia to join up with Al Shabab. AP

The court heard he had become radicalised at the hospital, where he was being treated for schizophrenia, and had asked Muslim staff which mosques he could visit to become an extremist. He had also expressed interest in becoming a suicide bomber.

He was released in June 2018 after his case was reviewed after serving half of his sentence. The UK has an established practice of releasing convicted criminals halfway through sentences.

Criminals can be recalled to serve the remainder of their sentences if they commit further offences. Terrorist prisoners can face dozens of further restrictions that could include association with other extremists, restrictions on internet use and limits on movements.

Mulindwa, who faced 15 years of restrictions under the terms of his release, was detained 17 months after he was freed. He also jailed last week for another eight weeks for breaking the terms of his release.

Commander Richard Smith, London’s most senior counter-terrorist officer, said: “There are clear rules for registered terrorist offenders who are subject to notification orders, and Mulindwa broke one of them.

“Notification orders serve a serious purpose and are an important tool to help keep the public safe from harm.”

Mulindwa’s arrest in November came two weeks before a former terrorist prisoner stabbed two people to death at a rehabilitation conference after he was released half-way through a 16-year jail term.

Usman Khan, who was shot dead by police on London Bridge, had been jailed for plotting to bomb the London Stock Exchange.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said after the attack that officials were reviewing the status of 74 terrorists freed early from prison. He said this year that the early release scheme would end for terrorists.