Edmonton drop-out cleared of terrorism charges (From Enfield Independent)

Edmonton drop-out Hakan Ertarkan cleared of terrorism charges

9:10am Saturday 23rd June 2012 in News By David Hardiman, Reporter

A university drop-out from Edmonton has been cleared of downloading an al Qaida magazine for terrorism.

Hakan Ertarkan, 21, of Amersham Avenue, had been accused of having Inspire magazine – the terror group’s English-language magazine – with bomb making instructions likely to be used in terrorism.

But an Old Bailey jury yesterday found him not guilty of the Terrorism Act charge after he said he had wanted to view the group's interpretation of Islam when he saved it to his sister’s computer and burned it to a CD.

He downloaded the file 'How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom', and police found a notebook entitled 'My Jihad', writings by radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki, and £3,000 in cash.

The court heard that police raided Ertarkan's family home in Edmonton after he took part in a flag-burning demonstration outside the American embassy in London, in January last year.

A CD under the former Metropolitan University student's bed was found to have the al Qaida material.