Oldham wife Shasta Khan guilty of Jewish jihad plan

A woman from Oldham has been found guilty of helping her husband plan a terrorist attack in an attempt to carry out "jihad at home".

Shasta Khan, 38, denied being involved with Mohammed Sajid Khan's plans to attack Bury's Jewish community.

She was found guilty of engaging in preparation for terrorism and two counts of possessing information useful for terrorism.

Mr Khan, 33, pleaded guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing.

Police discovered a cache of terror-related material after being called to a domestic dispute at the couple's home last July.

It included beheading videos, propaganda glorifying Osama bin Laden, and bomb-making guides.

Peroxide and bleach, used by Mrs Khan in her work as a hairdresser, could have been used to make an improvised explosive device (IED), the court heard.

The jury was told that one of the most significant finds at the couple's house was a plastic bag from an electrical shop that contained electrical wires, Christmas tree lights, bulbs and a battery.

An article from an al Qaida magazine entitled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom" offered a step-by-step guide, from how to get ingredients without raising suspicion, to building a bomb, incorporating the use of Christmas lights.

The jury was told that IED ingredients listed in the guide matched the items found at the defendant's home.

During Mrs Khan's trial at Manchester Crown Court, which lasted almost a month, prosecutor Bobbie Cheema told the court the couple had become "radicalised by material found on the internet such as an al-Qaeda magazine called Inspire".

They did not achieve the production of a functioning bomb and did not have the final ability to carry out the attack but they looked at possible locations for an attack, Miss Cheema said.

Their sat-nav showed they had been on multiple trips to Jewish areas around Greater Manchester, mainly Prestwich.

Miss Cheema added the "path from radicalisation to atrocity" was broken perhaps because of "internal domestic affairs" between the couple.

They met via a Muslim dating website in July 2010 and married soon afterwards but by July of last year the relationship was suffering real problems, the jury heard.

When a "serious row" developed Mr Khan left home to go back to his parents' house in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Two days later he returned but there was more trouble between the husband and wife and her family, resulting in him assaulting his father-in-law.

When the police called to the address in Foster Street to deal with the domestic dispute, one of Mrs Khan's brothers told them: "We have something that I think might be interesting to you, I think he's a home-grown terrorist," Miss Cheema told the jury.

The wife then took the opportunity to "spill the beans" and cause "serious trouble" for her husband - but left out her own involvement in any terror offences.

The jury cleared Mrs Khan of a third charge of possessing information useful for committing or preparing for an act of terrorism.

She will be sentenced along with her husband on Friday.