London, May 20 (IANS): A British court has convicted a 31-year-old man of a terror offence after he was found to have travelled to Syria along with four others to join a jihadist training camp, a leading daily reported Tuesday.
Mashudur Choudhury, 31, from Portsmouth travelled to Syria last October with the alleged intention of joining Al Qaeda-inspired rebel groups fighting Bashar al-Assad, The Guardian reported.
He is the first British man to be convicted of a Syria-related terror offence since the conflict began, the daily added.
Police said they received a tip-off from within the Muslim community in Portsmouth that Choudhury and four other men had left for Syria last October.
A CCTV footage shows Choudhury and the four others at Gatwick airport en route to Turkey. While Choudhury returned to Britain within a month, the other men are believed to be fighting with jihadist groups against the Assad regime in Syria.
The jury at Kingston Crown Court convicted Choudhury after a two-week trial. They were presented with his exchanges on social media, Skype and text messages, which the court said proved he intended to go and join a terror training camp in Syria.