A British man who stored material about missile systems on data sticks disguised as cufflinks and created an extensive online manual for members of Islamic State was sentenced to eight years’ jail on Tuesday.

Samata Ullah, 34, an unemployed man from Cardiff in Wales, had admitted five terrorism charges including membership of Islamic State (IS).

Police recovered 30 pairs of USB sticks disguised as cufflinks, which contained a guide to missile systems and instructions on how to avoid detection online.

Counter Terrorism Commander Dean Haydon said Ullah had set up an online self-help library which contained IS propaganda, guidance on encryption and anti-surveillance techniques.   

“He’s created a one-stop shop for terrorists,” said Haydon in a statement, adding that Ullah used techniques the police had never seen before. “He was very technically competent… he was a very dangerous individual.”

Ullah posted video logs on his website to demonstrate his anti-detection techniques, featuring his gloved hand and voice-distortion technology to hide his strong Welsh accent.

In all, police recovered over half a million internet files and 150 digital devices.

Haydon said an investigation in Kenya had led police to Ullah, who had adopted multiple online personas, operating from dozens of email addresses and Twitter accounts.

The use of encryption by some internet companies “allows terrorists to operate with impunity”, Haydon said, a situation which he described as frustrating.   

Ullah had been able to conduct most of his activities by himself in his bedroom in Cardiff.   

“We found him quite a solitary character,” Haydon said.    “His character in the virtual world was very different from the one in the real world.”

Keith Hall, 38, from Rhyl, received a 16-week suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to a religiously-motivated firework attack on the town’s Islamic Cultural Centre.

During the trial, CCTV footage from a nearby pub revealed that Hall had approached the mosque twice in 20 minutes. Nor did act alone. The footage also revealed a man and woman in the background laughing and shouting at Hall to “hurry up”.

In light of the footage, magistrates did express surprise that no other individual had been charged in relation to the  incident on November 11.

The court also heard a victim’s impact statement from the centre’s treasurer Rafiq Ullah. Mr Ullah informed the court that the fireworks would have caused greater damage had they not improved safety measures. In 2013, John Parkin attempted to burn down the centre in the days that followed the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby.

After his arrest, Hall stated that he could remember little of the incident due to intoxication. He had drunk at least eight pints of cider beforehand. Wyn Jones, for the prosecution, stated that Hall had also consumed Sambuca and Jagermeister. Hall had earlier denied a racist element to the attack because he has ‘several friends from ethnic minorities’.

Having denied a religiously-aggravated motivation, he later switched his plea to guilty. The non-aggravated criminal damage charge was later dropped.

The incident had also injured Mr Hall as he awoke with a sore arm after the fireworks had blown apart the letterbox.

Police had arrested and interviewed three individuals but only brought charges against Mr Hall.

Hall’s 16-week prison sentence is suspended for 12 months. He must attend an alcohol treatment course for six months and observe a 7am-7pm curfew.

The post Man sentenced for fireworks attack on Rhyl Islamic Cultural Centre appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Keith Hall, 38, from Rhyl, received a 16-week suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to a religiously-motivated firework attack on the town’s Islamic Cultural Centre.

During the trial, CCTV footage from a nearby pub revealed that Hall had approached the mosque twice in 20 minutes. Nor did act alone. The footage also revealed a man and woman in the background laughing and shouting at Hall to “hurry up”.

In light of the footage, magistrates did express surprise that no other individual had been charged in relation to the  incident on November 11.

The court also heard a victim’s impact statement from the centre’s treasurer Rafiq Ullah. Mr Ullah informed the court that the fireworks would have caused greater damage had they not improved safety measures. In 2013, John Parkin attempted to burn down the centre in the days that followed the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby.

After his arrest, Hall stated that he could remember little of the incident due to intoxication. He had drunk at least eight pints of cider beforehand. Wyn Jones, for the prosecution, stated that Hall had also consumed Sambuca and Jagermeister. Hall had earlier denied a racist element to the attack because he has ‘several friends from ethnic minorities’.

Having denied a religiously-aggravated motivation, he later switched his plea to guilty. The non-aggravated criminal damage charge was later dropped.

The incident had also injured Mr Hall as he awoke with a sore arm after the fireworks had blown apart the letterbox.

Police had arrested and interviewed three individuals but only brought charges against Mr Hall.

Hall’s 16-week prison sentence is suspended for 12 months. He must attend an alcohol treatment course for six months and observe a 7am-7pm curfew.

The post Man sentenced for fireworks attack on Rhyl Islamic Cultural Centre appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Keith Hall, 38, from Rhyl, received a 16-week suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to a religiously-motivated firework attack on the town’s Islamic Cultural Centre.

During the trial, CCTV footage from a nearby pub revealed that Hall had approached the mosque twice in 20 minutes. Nor did act alone. The footage also revealed a man and woman in the background laughing and shouting at Hall to “hurry up”.

In light of the footage, magistrates did express surprise that no other individual had been charged in relation to the  incident on November 11.

The court also heard a victim’s impact statement from the centre’s treasurer Rafiq Ullah. Mr Ullah informed the court that the fireworks would have caused greater damage had they not improved safety measures. In 2013, John Parkin attempted to burn down the centre in the days that followed the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby.

After his arrest, Hall stated that he could remember little of the incident due to intoxication. He had drunk at least eight pints of cider beforehand. Wyn Jones, for the prosecution, stated that Hall had also consumed Sambuca and Jagermeister. Hall had earlier denied a racist element to the attack because he has ‘several friends from ethnic minorities’.

Having denied a religiously-aggravated motivation, he later switched his plea to guilty. The non-aggravated criminal damage charge was later dropped.

The incident had also injured Mr Hall as he awoke with a sore arm after the fireworks had blown apart the letterbox.

Police had arrested and interviewed three individuals but only brought charges against Mr Hall.

Hall’s 16-week prison sentence is suspended for 12 months. He must attend an alcohol treatment course for six months and observe a 7am-7pm curfew.

The post Man sentenced for fireworks attack on Rhyl Islamic Cultural Centre appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Keith Hall, 38, from Rhyl, received a 16-week suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to a religiously-motivated firework attack on the town’s Islamic Cultural Centre.

During the trial, CCTV footage from a nearby pub revealed that Hall had approached the mosque twice in 20 minutes. Nor did act alone. The footage also revealed a man and woman in the background laughing and shouting at Hall to “hurry up”.

In light of the footage, magistrates did express surprise that no other individual had been charged in relation to the  incident on November 11.

The court also heard a victim’s impact statement from the centre’s treasurer Rafiq Ullah. Mr Ullah informed the court that the fireworks would have caused greater damage had they not improved safety measures. In 2013, John Parkin attempted to burn down the centre in the days that followed the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby.

After his arrest, Hall stated that he could remember little of the incident due to intoxication. He had drunk at least eight pints of cider beforehand. Wyn Jones, for the prosecution, stated that Hall had also consumed Sambuca and Jagermeister. Hall had earlier denied a racist element to the attack because he has ‘several friends from ethnic minorities’.

Having denied a religiously-aggravated motivation, he later switched his plea to guilty. The non-aggravated criminal damage charge was later dropped.

The incident had also injured Mr Hall as he awoke with a sore arm after the fireworks had blown apart the letterbox.

Police had arrested and interviewed three individuals but only brought charges against Mr Hall.

Hall’s 16-week prison sentence is suspended for 12 months. He must attend an alcohol treatment course for six months and observe a 7am-7pm curfew.

The post Man sentenced for fireworks attack on Rhyl Islamic Cultural Centre appeared first on TELL MAMA.

A rare copy of the King James Bible, dating back to the 17th Century,  reappeared in Wales.

A moment of curiosity from St Giles Parish Church’s vicar Reverend Dr Jason Bray in Wrexham led to its rediscovery.

The National Library of Wales later confirmed its authenticity.

Dr Bray told the Daily Post that “The title page and the last page are missing but other than that it’s in good condition”.

The first edition King James Bible dates back to 1611 and is one of just 200 copies known to still exist. It is also known as the Authorised Version (AV) of the bible in English

Other English language bible translations did exist before the seventeenth century. Yet, politics often got in the way of a standardised translation.

The 1408 Constitutions of Oxford made biblical translations in England forbidden. This ban attempted to prevent a rise in English “Lutheranism”. Only the educated classes had access to the authorised translation of the bible – St Jerome’s Vulgate.

William Tyndale (1494–1536) left for Germany in 1524 hoping to translate the New Testament into English. It took two years for a complete translation to appear in England and Scotland. His first attempt failed after authorities raided his printshop in Cologne.

A group of English Catholics fled to Switzerland to avoid persecution for their faith. In 1560, they worked on what became known as the Geneva Bible. Among the translators was John Knox (1514-1572) and Myles Coverdale (1488-1569). The translators added introductions, maps, indexes, and summaries. It became the first English language bible to use roman font and introduced verse numbers. Its print run ended in 1644.

In response to perceived its ‘anti-epostical’ notes,  Anglican Bishops issued their own translation. This translation became known as the Bishops’ Bible and was published in 1568 for use in the Church of England.

Yet, the Church of England, for the most, part relied upon an earlier translation, the Great Bible (1539-1540). Its initial print run began in Paris until it fell foul of Catholic censors.

Papal authority did not outlaw translations- rather they insisted that all translations get prior approval. One such approval is the Catholic Rheims-Douai Bible (1582-1610).

In 1604, King James VI of Scotland, who had ruled England for a year, ordered a new translation at the Hampton Court Conference.

More than fifty Greek and Latin scholars worked on the translation for what became the official bible of the Church of England.

If James sought unity, he had to navigate between Puritans, Presbyterians, Nonconformists and Separatists. To broaden its appeal, he ordered that scholars made the text readable in the idiom of the day.

The first prints arrived in 1611, and published in a large black font, without pictures, for use in churches.

From 1629 onwards, editors adapted its spelling and punctuation. By 1769, most of the changes were complete, but it continues to evolve. That way, a modern text differs from the 1611 version – though most changes concerned spelling.

In 1885, scholars revised the text. It brought together various denominations. This included Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians from Britain and the United States. This revision helped align the King James Bible with American Standard Version of 1901.

The post Rare first edition of King James Bible from 1611 found in Wales appeared first on Religious Reader.