Anglojew
09-19-2015, 01:52 AM
A computer geek has been jailed for eight years for trying to buy deadly ricin poison from the dark web after being inspired by the hit US television series Breaking Bad.
Software programmer Mohammed Ali, 31, was found guilty at the Old Bailey last month of attempting to possess a chemical weapon between January 10 and February 12.
Under the username Weirdos 0000, Ali struck a deal with a supplier on the internet black market to buy 500mg of powder for 500 US dollars (£320) - enough to kill 1,400 people.
Ali was unaware that his source, Psychochem, was in fact an FBI agent who tipped off police in England and substituted the consignment of ricin for harmless powder.
After the father of two took delivery of a toy car with five vials hidden in the battery compartment, police swooped to arrest him at his Liverpool home.
Under ultraviolet light, Ali's face lit up showing that he had handled the package that had been specially treated with a marker substance.
Sentencing Ali at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Saunders told him: "It seems to me that this is the sort of case where a deterrent sentence has to be passed.
"Everyone needs to know that the possession of a chemical weapon is extremely serious and long prison sentences will follow."
Computer analysis showed that Ali first began trawling the internet for information on poisons such as abrin, ricin and cyanide in October last year.
The court heard Ali approached the undercover agent in January with a private message: "Hi, would you be able to make me some ricin and send it to the UK?"
In a series of encrypted chats they discussed the price of a lethal dose, discounts for bulk orders and repeat purchases, and ricin's "shelf life", jurors were told.
At one point Ali asked: "How do I test this ricin?" and received the instruction: "You must test it on a rodent." Records showed that on February 4 - days before the delivery - he made a payment of 2.1849 Bitcoins, the online currency.
Around this time, Ali had made a to-do list on his computer that included the entries "paid ricin guy" and "get pet to murder", the court heard. He had also made a series of internet searches for chinchillas, animal rescue centres, rabbits and "pocket-sized pets".
In his defence, Ali told jurors that he was "just curious" and wanted to test the boundaries of the dark web, unaware that ricin was illegal.
He said: "I found lots of different items ranging from drugs, guns, other illegal items, and because I had been watching Breaking Bad TV show I just had ricin in my mind."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11873491/Breaking-Bad-fan-Mohammed-Ali-jailed-for-trying-to-buy-ricin-on-dark-web.html
Software programmer Mohammed Ali, 31, was found guilty at the Old Bailey last month of attempting to possess a chemical weapon between January 10 and February 12.
Under the username Weirdos 0000, Ali struck a deal with a supplier on the internet black market to buy 500mg of powder for 500 US dollars (£320) - enough to kill 1,400 people.
Ali was unaware that his source, Psychochem, was in fact an FBI agent who tipped off police in England and substituted the consignment of ricin for harmless powder.
After the father of two took delivery of a toy car with five vials hidden in the battery compartment, police swooped to arrest him at his Liverpool home.
Under ultraviolet light, Ali's face lit up showing that he had handled the package that had been specially treated with a marker substance.
Sentencing Ali at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Saunders told him: "It seems to me that this is the sort of case where a deterrent sentence has to be passed.
"Everyone needs to know that the possession of a chemical weapon is extremely serious and long prison sentences will follow."
Computer analysis showed that Ali first began trawling the internet for information on poisons such as abrin, ricin and cyanide in October last year.
The court heard Ali approached the undercover agent in January with a private message: "Hi, would you be able to make me some ricin and send it to the UK?"
In a series of encrypted chats they discussed the price of a lethal dose, discounts for bulk orders and repeat purchases, and ricin's "shelf life", jurors were told.
At one point Ali asked: "How do I test this ricin?" and received the instruction: "You must test it on a rodent." Records showed that on February 4 - days before the delivery - he made a payment of 2.1849 Bitcoins, the online currency.
Around this time, Ali had made a to-do list on his computer that included the entries "paid ricin guy" and "get pet to murder", the court heard. He had also made a series of internet searches for chinchillas, animal rescue centres, rabbits and "pocket-sized pets".
In his defence, Ali told jurors that he was "just curious" and wanted to test the boundaries of the dark web, unaware that ricin was illegal.
He said: "I found lots of different items ranging from drugs, guns, other illegal items, and because I had been watching Breaking Bad TV show I just had ricin in my mind."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11873491/Breaking-Bad-fan-Mohammed-Ali-jailed-for-trying-to-buy-ricin-on-dark-web.html