BRITAIN'S YOUNGEST TERRORIST FACES JAIL FOR PLOT; Schoolboy led double life.

Byline: By Mark McGivern

BRITAIN'S youngest terrorist was behind bars last night after a guide to death and explosives was found in his home.

Hammaad Munshi, who was just 16 and taking GCSEs when arrested, was part of a cell of cyber groomers who set out to brainwash the vulnerable to kill "non-believers".

He was 15 when recruited by Aabid Khan, 23, who radicalized Mohammed Atif Siddique, of Alva, Clackmannanshire, who was jailed for eight years at Edinburgh High Court in 2007.

For nearly a year, Munshi distributed material to others as part of what the Crown branded a "conspiracy to wipe out non-Muslims".

London's Blackfriars Crown Court heard it contained detailed instructions about making napalm, other high explosives, detonators and grenades.

Munshi and Khan lived 10 miles apart, phoned each other during 2005 and 2006, and swapped documents about "black powder explosives".

Khan wanted to fulfil the teenager's wish to go abroad and "fight jihad".

A day after Khan was held, Munshi, of Dewsbury, Yorkshire, was arrested as he and friends returned from school.

The IT whizz-kid ran a website selling hunting knives and Islamic flags and was the cell's computer specialist.

Khan was returning from Pakistan when detained.

The routine stop at Manchester Airport on June 6, 2006, yielded the largest cyber "encyclopaedia" of terrorism articles ever seized by police.

It included personal information, including addresses, of various members of the Royal Family.

There was also a guide to killing non-Muslims and discussions about setting up a secret Islamic state in a remote area of Scotland.

Operation Praline, headed by Leeds Counter-Terrorism Unit, examined a huge number of files from hard-drives and DVDs in Khan's suitcase and identified two fellow "jihadists".

Post officer worker Sultan Muhammad, 23, was Khan's cousin and "right-hand man".

They regularly chatted about killing non-believers and buying the explosive component acetone.

He fled to London after Khan's arrest and was arrested two weeks later.

Khan, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, who admitted to becoming interested in jihad at 12, insisted he was in Pakistan selling mobiles and visiting earthquake victims.

He claimed the material police found resulted from "hoarding and curiosity".

Munshi, who is now 18, did not give evidence but used his barrister to argue "curiosity".

Muhammad remained in the dock as well, suggesting through his counsel that the computer files belonged to others.

But the jury, who spent six days considering the evidence, convicted them of eight Terrorism Act offences committed between November 23, 2005, and June 20, 2006.

Judge Timothy Pontius told an impassive Khan and Muhammad they would remain in custody until today, when he would pass sentence.

Turning to an equally unemotional Munshi, the judge said although he had been on bail he, too, would now be remanded in custody until he is sentenced next month.

CAPTION(S):

BRAINWASHED: Hammaad Munshi; GROOM: Khan. Above, manuals found at Munshi's house