Jurors have been shown an image of the alleged Islamic State supporter accused of murdering a respected imam in Greater Manchester posing for the camera in a stab-proof vest.
The picture of Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, 21, was presented at the trial for the murder of Jalal Uddin, 71, in February.
In another photograph shown to the jury, Syeedy points a finger to the sky while holding a white flag over a Rochdale road sign that had been changed to read “war zone”.
Syeedy is accused along with Mohammed Abdul Kadir, 24, of murdering Uddin. They allegedly viewed the elderly imam’s use of healing amulets as “black magic”.
The trial at Manchester crown court heard how Syeedy and Kadir stalked Uddin around the streets of Rochdale before Kadir attacked him with a hammer-like object in a playground.
The pair mounted covert surveillance on Uddin six months before the killing on 18 February when they discovered he practised ruqya, a form of Islamic healing, the court has heard.
The use of healing amulets, known as taweez, is considered a sin worthy of severe punishment – including death – by some Salafi Muslims and Isis supporters, jurors have been told.
Paul Greaney QC, prosecuting, told the jury there was “clear and cogent” evidence that Syeedy and Kadir supported Isis.
In another photograph shown to jurors, Syeedy poses with a “Rochdale 2 Syria” banner before embarking on what they described as an aid trip in 2013. He smiles alongside friends wearing black badges that show either a Kalashnikov or curved sword, widely used by Isis and other jihadi groups.
Jurors have been told that the co-accused Kadir is being hunted by police after he fled to Turkey three days after the killing.
Syeedy was shown on CCTV driving his Vauxhall Astra closely behind Uddin before dropping Kadir off at the gates of a playground before the attack at 8.42pm.
Kadir, from Oldham, inflicted “repeated forceful blows” to Uddin’s head and mouth with a weapon believed to be a hammer, the court has heard, leaving him with severe skull fractures.
Syeedy, from Rochdale, could then be seen picking Kadir up at the other side of the playground at 8.43pm.
Jurors have heard that Syeedy admits being with Kadir before and after the attack but denies knowing that the older defendant planned to murder Uddin.
The trial continues.
