Two convicted of recruiting for jihad from market stall

A Taliban veteran and a Muslim convert are facing jail after using a Manchester market stall to sign up volunteers to go to Afghanistan and kill British troops


Munir Farooqi, 54, was said to be at the heart of a plot to encourage people to ‘fight, kill and die’ in a conflict with coalition troops.

Beside him in the dock at Manchester Crown Court was Muslim convert Matthew Newton, aged 29, who he was ‘mentoring’.

The pair were stopped when they unwittingly tried to recruit undercover police officers at markets in Manchester city centre and in Longsight. Munir Farooqi, of Victoria Terrace, Longsight, was convicted of preparing for acts of terrorism, three counts of soliciting to murder and one count of dissemination of terrorist publications.

Newton, of Stockport Road, Levenshulme, was convicted of preparing for acts of terrorism and two counts of dissemination of terrorist publications. The two men denied the charges during a four-month trial. But after four days of deliberation, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts....