London: A Bangladeshi-origin British Muslim has been sentenced to seven years in prison for traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group.
Mohammed Uddin, who called himself 'Supaman', was sentenced on Wednesday at Woolwich Crown Court in London after pleading guilty to a charge of preparing acts of terrorism.
It emerged in court that he fled the war zone because it was too "cold".
In a text message to a friend, he wrote: "You need to get used to the cold water and no electricity. I wanna get out of here now. I've had enough. This isn't the jihad or system we thought we'd like to see."
The court heard how Uddin traveled to Syria on November 4, 2014 and on December 12 of the same year; he crossed the border back into Turkey where he was held by the authorities because he did not have any travel documents.
The 29-year-old was stopped by counter-terrorism officers at UK?s Gatwick Airport when he returned to Britain on 22 December on suspicion of terrorist activity.
Assistant Chief Constable Laura Nicholson, the counter-terrorism lead for the UK's South East Counter Terrorism Unit, said: "Uddin's purpose of travel was to join
Daesh (ISIS) and engage in terrorist activity but thanks to the proactive work of Gatwick Airport port officers, we were able to intercept Uddin at the airport and ensure that his reasons for travel were fully investigated.
"Anyone intending to travel to Syria or Iraq to fight or to commit terrorist acts against the UK or our interests should be in no doubt that the police will take the strongest possible action against them."
Sue Hemming, head of special crime and counter terrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), added: "It was very clear from the conversations recovered from electrical devices that Uddin had meticulously planned his trip so that he would be able to get to Syria undetected.
"It is vital that we bring the full force of the law against those who leave the UK to support terrorism. We will continue to work to build strong cases against these individuals to ensure that terrorists are brought to justice."
Uddin lived with his parents in Ilford, north-east London, and was separated from his wife, who was pregnant with his child at the time he left for Syria.
