Ex-student Adam Mahmood, 20, from Sheldon, had been convicted of a single count of possessing a recording likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism
18:40, 15 Jan 2026
A Birmingham TikToker who was found guilty of possessing a bomb-making video explaining how to make a type of explosive previously used in UK terror attacks has been jailed for four years.
Ex-student Adam Mahmood, who had more than 27,000 followers on the social media platform, had asked another user to send him the instructional video via a messaging app.
The 20-year-old, from Sheldon, was found guilty of a single count of possessing a recording likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism after a week-long trial at Birmingham Crown Court last September and was sentenced today (January 15).
READ MORE: Inside Birmingham TikToker's room where bomb-making video found
Mahmood, who sat in the dock to be sentenced, is to serve four years in a young offender institution. He was told by Judge Simon Drew KC he will also serve an extended period of three years on licence after his custodial sentence expires “in order to protect the public in the future”.
The trial heard the video provided “a detailed guide” to producing an explosive substance with a detonator and shrapnel to make a complete bomb.
The judge said police found an “alarming display of medieval weapons” in Mahmood’s bedroom, including swords, knives, an axe and a catapult, which the defendant claimed were linked to his interest in “Islamic history”.
Sentencing Mahmood, who is a former motor mechanics student, the judge said: “You had terrorist motivations. That is clear from the items in your bedroom, the material on your phone and your evidence.”
Although there was no evidence that Mahmood, of Platt Brook Way, intended to use the bomb-making video for a specific terrorist act, the judge said, the ball bearings found in his bedroom suggested the defendant was “at least contemplating assembling such a device”.
The judge added: “The presence of such an arsenal in the bedroom of an 18-year-old was a clear warning sign. One that regrettably no responsible adult acted upon.”
Speaking about the video obtained by Mahmood in October 2023, Judge Drew said: “The prosecution say you deliberately saved this video to your phone.
“You must have understood the nature of the video. Its visuals and subtitles made clear it was a bomb-making guide, not an innocuous clip.”
The judge said there was a “significant risk” Mahmood may commit further offences and he had showed a “high level of interest in, and support for, prohibited terrorist organisations”.