A Muslim caught with thousands of computer files about weapons, explosives and poisons, told a court how childhood "anger" fuelled his interest in "jihad" and warfare.
Aabid Khan, 23, of Otley Road, Undercliffe, Bradford, West Yorkshire, who was arrested on his return from Pakistan two years ago, said by the time he was 12 he was so concerned about the suffering of fellow believers he regularly accessed internet ne
ws bulletins about them.
"I felt upset and angry with the onslaught against innocent women and children in countries such as Russia," he told London's Southwark Crown Court.
"The Russian army massacred quite a lot of Muslims in Chechnya, they bombarded woman and children in the cities and they flattened most of the republic. It is still going on today."
As time passed he downloaded articles on pyrotechnics, jihad and "items about war", together with an "analysis of September 11" and "various reports on Islamic jurisprudence".
He also joined online discussion forums to swap views about the "tactics and strategies" employed by different groups of Muslim fighters, "what weapons they used, the individuals involved, their profiles, things like that".
By the time he was 21 he had "hoarded" a large amount of material, some of which came from CDs handed to him outside mosques and after conferences.
Jurors heard it was all recovered from a laptop hard drive after he was detained at Manchester airport in June 2006.
More material – much of it deleted – was allegedly retrieved from an external memory device sent to him by a friend to help him set up a second hand phone business in Pakistan.
Khan explained because he received the drive just hours before he left for Britain, he never had a chance to see what it contained.
The court has heard his arrest was followed by the detention of three co-accused during raids in West Yorkshire and London.
In the dock with him are Sultan Muhammad, also 23, of nearby Hanover Square, Manningham; Ahmed Sulieman, 30, from south-east London, and Hammaad Munshi, 18, from Saville Town, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
All four variously deny possessing articles for a purpose connected with terrorism and making a record of information likely to be useful in terrorism between November 23 2005 and June 20 the following year.
During his second day giving evidence, twice-married Khan was asked about a letter sent to him by his first wife Saimain which she called for the release of Muslim prisoners "in such places as Guantanamo Bay".
The trial was adjourned until today.
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