A man posing as a journalist has been jailed for more than five years for terrorism offences.

Mohamed Kuwaldeen, 38, of no fixed abode, was arrested by Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) detectives on November 21, 2018, at his then-home address in Slough.

They seized a number of items including a laptop, a smartphone and a memory stick, all belonging to him, and discovered forged documents relating to a supposed career as a journalist.

Detectives found a number of terrorist and extremist-related documents relating to bomb making, in particular, publications which included details on how to avoid police and security services.

When he was asked why he had the documents, Kuwaldeen, a Sri Lankan national, claimed he was a journalist conducting research – but his claims proved to be false and he had never published an article.

He was subsequently charged on November 28, 2018 and, following a trial, convicted yesterday (Wednesday).

He was found guilty of five counts of possession of documents containing information useful for terrorist purposes, contrary to section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, Head of CTPSE, said: "Kulwaldeen tried to make out he merely had an interest in finding out more about terrorism for journalistic purposes, yet he possessed fraudulent credentials and had never published a journalistic article in his life.

“Whilst there’s not anything to suggest that Kuwaldeen was preparing to commit acts of terrorism, the documents he had were dangerous terrorist documents, which could be used by someone to help plan and execute an attack.

“Thanks to the excellent investigative work of my detectives, Kuwaldeen was found is now facing a lengthy custodial sentence.”