Blackburn terror accused 'wanted to help suffering Syrians' Published duration 29 October 2015

image caption Ednane Mahmood denies attempting to travel to Syria to commit acts of terrorism for so-called Islamic State (IS).

A man accused of terrorism offences has told a jury he wanted to travel to Syria to "help the Syrian people".

Ednane Mahmood, 19, from Blackburn, Lancashire, had an interest in Syria "from the beginning of the war, because of all the suffering", the court heard.

He denies attempting to travel to Syria to commit acts of terrorism and providing internet links to others which encourage acts of terrorism.

Mr Mahmood said he had enquired about joining an aid convoy to Syria.

He was told he must raise £5,000.

Banned organisation

Manchester Crown Court heard how he and his brother raised £80 by organising a charity run.

Mr Mahmood had searched the internet in July 2014 for airports in Turkey. A week later he searched for "jihad", the jury was told.

He said: " I think jihad is the peaceful way - the struggle to carry on with our lives. Not militants."

Defence barrister Ian McMeekin asked Mr Mahmood why he sent a link promoting militant group Isis via a private message on Facebook and wrote "I love this vid".

He responded: "Within the video it showed the people in the towns in Iraq feel they've been liberated by Isis. They were happy.... now I know they're a banned organisation."

When asked if he had known that in July 2014, he said: "I don't know. I sent it just to show what was going on Iraq. These events were on the news. They were everywhere."

The court heard how the Blackburn teenager began drinking alcohol with friends when he was 14 or 15.

His family found out about it and so he decided to stop drinking in early 2014 and stay at home, he said.

"Instead I played video games and searched things on the internet. That's the only things I had to do in my spare time. I played Call of Duty on a daily basis. I was regularly on the news websites. They were showing Syria so I was researching."