IT worker facing jail for buying enough ricin to kill up to 1,400 people over the Dark Web

 
Facing jail: police put Mohammed Ali under an ultra violet light to detect the fact he had handled the parcel containing the ricin replacement (Picture: PA)
PA
Paul Cheston30 July 2015
WEST END FINAL

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An IT worker faces jail at the Old Bailey for buying over the Dark Web enough of the chemical weapon ricin to kill up to 1,400 people.

Mohammed Ali was inspired by the TV series Breaking Bad in which ricin was used to kill but claimed he was unaware having it was illegal.

He paid $500 through Bitcoin for the deadly poison to be delivered in a parcel to his home hidden in a toy car.

In fact Ali, 31, had ordered the chemical, known as “the poisoner’s perfect poison”, from an undercover FBI agent.

A harmless substance was substituted and he tipped off the British authorities who arrested Ali with the delivery.

They found he had drawn up two computer lists stating: “Paid ricin guy” and – for the purposes of testing his purchase - “get pet to murder”.

The second list showed possible options of pet shop, animal rescue centre, small sized pets, pocket sized pets and chinchillas.

One entry stated “Rabbit Rehome – adopt an unwanted bunny from a rescue centre.”

Ali, of Liverpool, was convicted of attempting to possess 500mg of ricin between January and February this year.

Delivery: Ali paid 0 through Bitcoin for the deadly poison to be delivered in a parcel to his home hidden in a toy car (Picture: PA)
PA

He had claimed he had wanted to buy the poison “out of curiosity”, for “peaceful purposes” and to understand the workings of the Dark Web, known as the “internet black market”.

He will be sentenced on September 18 by Mr Justice Saunders.

Remanding Ali in custody, the judge said: “There is no evidence that he was planning any sort of terrorist activity nor that he had in mind any specific victim.

“I make no finding about what he would have done with the ricin but I believe it would have remained in his possession in some way and that is the basis on which I will pass sentence.”

During the trial prosecutor Sally Howes QC told the court that ricin is both a chemical and a biological weapon which can kill in less than five days if inhaled or ingested.

After death it leaves no trace in either blood or body tissue thereby earning the nickname of “the poisoner’s perfect poison.”

Ali, who is married with two children, had dropped out of two separate university courses before becoming a software programmer.

He contacted the undercover agent, known as Peter, an in encrypted exchanges they spoke of the price of ricin, a possible discount for bulk purchases and “the testing of ricin on a rodent.”

A price of $500 dollars for the five vials of 100mg of ricin was agreed and the package containing the toy and a harmless substitute substance was sent to Ali.

When the police moved in they seized a desktop computer from Ali which showed google searches for ricin, cyanide, how to make ricin and the symptoms of cyanide poisoning.

Poison: the ricin inside the toy car (Picture: PA)

On a mobile phone found in Ali’s front bedroom police found searches for “easiest homemade poison”, “what poison kills you quick”, “how to make ricin”, “how to make basic poison at home” and “homemade poison ivy killer.”

Ali told jurors that he now realised that buying the ricin was a "reckless" thing to do and that he had never intended to harm anyone.

He continued: "It is a very, very stupid thing. I realise I should not have done it at all. I was just interested in finding out how one of these dark market places actually works and that is all I wanted to know."

In the witness box he admitted making money from criminal frauds and online gambling.

He said he had found a "loophole" in the PayPal system and stole more than £250,000 which his newsagent father had to pay back to avoid his son being prosecuted.

He then made about £17,000 in a new scam by switching new hard drives he bought through Tesco, Argos and Amazon with defective ones. He would send the computers back and sell the new hard drives on eBay.

The court also heard that Ali is said to have personality traits associated with Asperger’s Syndrome.

DCS Tony Mole of the North West Counter Terrorism Uniut said: "Ali attempted to buy a deadly poison and we can only speculate on what he planned to use it for, but in any case such as this, we take swift and decisive action.

"Thanks to the vigilance of officers from a number of different law enforcement agencies, we were able to intervene before this man did get hold of such a deadly substance from a genuine seller.

"I want to reassure our communities that the North West Counter Terrorism Unit and local police are well aware of the potential dangers associated with internet activity on the 'dark web'. Law enforcement agencies use a range of investigative techniques to monitor and police unlawful internet activity."

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