Scotland's first convicted Islamist terrorist began an attempt to clear his name at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh yesterday.

Lawyers acting for Mohammed Atif Siddique claimed that terror-related material produced at his trial which helped to secure his conviction was “mere propaganda” that is widely available on the internet.

Siddique, a computer studies student from Alva, Clackmannanshire, was imprisoned for eight years after being found guilty of a number of terror offences in October 2007, including providing material on bomb making and threatening to become a suicide bomber, as well as amassing and distributing terrorist propaganda via websites and providing instructional material about guns and explosives over the internet.

Appeal judges Lord Osborne, sitting with Lords Reed and Clarke, heard yesterday that Siddique was arrested at Glasgow Airport as he waited to board a plane to Lahore, Pakistan, with his uncle. Material found on his laptop computer and from a further search of his home included texts from the Koran, messages from al-Qaeda and praise for “martyrs” in Iraq.

Donald Findlay, QC, acting for Siddique, told the appeal court: “It is a hotch-potch, a melange of a whole variety of matters which is, in my submission, of no practical purpose whatsoever to any terrorist.” Although Mr Findlay admitted that Siddique “had an intention, an aspiration” to be a suicide bomber, he said that the propaganda he possessed, even if distasteful, was not an offence under terror laws, which demand the commission, preparation or instigation of a definite, particular act before a conviction is possible.

Lord Osborne said that floppy disks later found in Siddique's bedroom contained material which was “more specific” in nature and showed young Muslims being prepared for martyrdom. However, Mr Findlay replied this was all in the category of propaganda and did not fall within the scope of terror laws.

He also claimed that the judge in the original trial, Lord Carloway, had failed to direct the jury that a connection must be established between materials Siddique was found with and a specific act of terrorism. The jury was also not directed to distinguish between propaganda and other materials.

The case continues.

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