A terror scout has given a ludicrous three-word excuse for spying in London.
Magomed-Husejn Doytaey, 31, was found guilty of attempting to collect information for terrorist purposes by trial at a court in London.
The Old Bailey heard how Doytaey carried out hostile reconnaissance at Iran International, a Persian language television channel in Chiswick in February.
Doytaey claimed he was in the area of the building and his surroundings “for the architecture”.
He was later found guilty of “hostile reconnaissance” by a group of jurors after around seven hours of deliberations.
Head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter terrorism command, Commander Dominic Murphy, issued a statement after the verdict.
He said: “For a considerable amount of time, we’ve been worried about threats projected into the UK from Iran. At this time, we don’t know why Dovtaev was conducting this activity except to say that we believe very strongly that it was for terrorism.
“We don’t know who did it but we have always been concerned about threats projected into the UK, and in this case particularly against Persian language media.
“I’m pleased to say the company is still broadcasting from London, but just in a different location.”
The court heard how Iranian had long been a critic of the his country’s government and even publicly criticised it for violations of human rights.
Doytaey, an Austrian national born in Chechnya, was questioned by police when he flew from Vienna to Gatwick and from there to southwest London where the court heard he carried out “hostile reconnaissance”.
The jury heard how he tried to “identify and exploit” vulnerabilities for an individual or group that was not identified.
After being questioned by security officers he was later arrested by police in a nearby Starbucks. Later, in a separate statement to police he claimed he was there because he “quite simply liked it”.
He claimed he had taken a video “to show my three children…a lake” and said he had been “set up” by his contact.
Prosecuting, Nicholas de la Poer KC said: “As a result of the Iranian authorities’ attitude towards Iran International, the organisation and its employees all became targets for violent reprisals.
“As such, the security at their place of work was of very real and practical interest to those who might wish to carry out such reprisals.
“The very fact that the defendant went to collect information shows that planning by others was already underway.”
