Muhammad Billal, 19, from Nelson, Lancashire, was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in jail after he repeatedly accessed material from Islamic State (IS) and planned to buy a gun with cryptocurrency18:43, 02 Jul 2026A teenage Islamic extremist has been jailed for more than 13 years after he admitted planning a terrorist attack with a gun and trying to travel to a training camp in Somalia.‌Muhammad Billal, 19, from Nelson, Lancashire, was arrested in November 2024 at Manchester airport trying to board a flight to Dubai.‌He was charged the following February with two counts of preparation of terrorist acts and four counts of collecting information likely to be used by a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.‌At the Old Bailey on Thursday, almost a year after pleading guilty, Billal was handed an extended sentence of 13-and-a-half years in custody, with an extended licence period of five years by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.Judge Cheema-Grubb said: “By your own account to the probation officer, you intended to kill members of the public and you hoped to be killed by police.“You could not be sure that you would not have gone through with the attack.”‌Billal repeatedly accessed material from so-called Islamic State (IS) and declared his support for the organisation throughout 2024 until his arrest in November, the court heard.Those included conversations where he defended IS online with comments like “for you they are terrorists, for me they are fighters of justice and truth” along with downloading IS fitness manuals, and searching for things like “how do you join Isis?”.The court heard his terror attack planning involved researching “nearby shooting ranges” and buying a gun on the dark web using cryptocurrency.‌He also conducted online reconnaissance of potential attack locations, including churches, synagogues, busy train stations and Manchester United ’s stadium.He went on to take steps to travel to Somalia between last October and November 2024 after being contacted online.He sought advice and guidance from those contacts on how to leave the UK without arousing suspicion, changed his appearance, deleted extreme Islamic material from his mobile phone, bought clothes, equipment and online tickets.‌He also obtained a visa to enter Ethiopia in order to facilitate crossing into Somalia via Dubai.Defending Billal, Andrew Morris said the defendant was “vulnerable” and had been “brainwashed” as a teenager after coming to the UK from Italy with his parents when he was 13.Judge Cheema-Grubb accepted that Billal had been looking for “belonging and brotherhood” through the ideology, but not that he had been exploited.‌“You were motivated by Islamic State ideology and you were motivated by martyrdom,” said Judge Cheema-Grubb.Since being in prison, Billal has reportedly started to move away from that ideology but was still assessed as a “high risk” of further terrorist related offending, the court heard.In April last year, prison officers found a picture of an IS flag in Billal’s cell, the court heard.Article continues belowJudge Cheema-Grubb added: “You said that if you had gone to Somalia you would have killed innocent people and that you were glad you had now been arrested because it stopped you from becoming a murderer.”Billal admitted all six offences in July last year.This is a Breaking News story. You’ll be more likely to see our stories when any big news breaks in future by simply by clicking this link. You can also join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Community or follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads - or visit The Mirror homepage.