A Nigerian Masters student faces jail and deportation after a jury found him guilty of making terrorist threats to bring mass murder and carnage to Dundee University.
Somtochukwu Okwuoha claimed he had enlisted ISIS to help bomb the institution and told staff he planned to target the city in a chemical warfare attack.
A jury at Perth Sheriff Court took an hour to find the International Energy Studies student unanimously guilty of the seven charges he faced and he was remanded in custody for reports.
Sheriff William Wood will also consider the Crown’s motion for an order to deport the 26-year-old back to Nigeria when he returns for sentencing next month.
Terrorist threats
During an eight-day trial, jurors heard how Okwuoha told university staff he planned to carry out mass murder on the Dundee University campus.
Witnesses described how he claimed he had a military background and was capable of making bombs and unleashing a deadly virus on the city.
Keith Mackle, 58, now-retired director of student services, told the court he had become aware of “serious concerns” in the autumn of 2021.
He said staff members received emails making terrorist threats.
One message read: “Expect a massive bomb explosion at the University of Dundee.
“I have contacted ISIS terrorists to plant bombs on campus.
“I can assure you staff and students will die in great numbers.
“9/11 will be a joke compared to what will happen.
“Blood will spill and flesh will be scattered.”
‘Bomb carnage’ threat
Campus security officer Stewart Kennedy, 54, said he got a call from an unknown number.
“They were saying there was a bomb being placed on the campus and there was going to be carnage tonight.
“I could tell he was covering his mouth to disguise it but I could tell it was an African accent.”
The jury was told Okwuoha had been involved in stalking behaviour towards a female flatmate before issuing the chilling threats.
Accommodation officer Shane Taylor said Okwuoha accused him of being racist and said he planned to wipe out Scottish people as revenge.
Stalking behaviour
Okwuoha, a prisoner at Perth, was found guilty of using private messaging networks to pose as a woman at the university and to make terrorist threats in her name.
He was found guilty of making threats during a seven-month campaign which targeted staff and others at Dundee University.
He engaged in a course of conduct which caused a woman fear or alarm by repeatedly approaching her and refusing to desist.
The jury convicted him of posing as another person online to contact her by phone and on social media.
Okwuoha was found guilty of using a virtual private network [VPN] to conceal his identity while making religiously-aggravated threats towards her.
He was found guilty of filling in a university online form in her name to make terrorism threats against the university and to make a “withdrawal from studies” request on her behalf.
The jury found Okwuoha guilty of threatening to murder staff at the university and commit terrorist crime between December 2021 and June 2022.
Murder and weapons threats
He was found guilty of threatening to commit mass murder, using biological weapons, revealing staff details to international authorities and claiming to have planted bombs.
Furthermore, he was found guilty of threatening to behead police officers and detonate bombs he had planted at Dundee University.
He was also convicted of accusing staff at The Hub in Dundee of being racist, and threatening to bomb and use biological weapons at the venue.
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