Man who threatened to bomb hospital avoids terror charges

Leroy McCarthy, 22, was going by the name Abdullah Mahmood when he was arrested for a string of offensive posts

A man who described himself as a ‘soldier of Allah’ escaped a terrorism charge because of his Facebook settings.  

Leroy McCarthy, 22, was going by the name Abdullah Mahmood when he was arrested for a string of offensive posts.

In one, he wrote about bombing Furness General Hospital, in Cumbria. 

But he was not charged with a terrorism offence due to his social media settings. 

Lee Dacre, prosecuting, told Furness Magistrates’ Court: ‘He would have been here today on a terrorism charge but for the settings on his Facebook. It’s a legal technicality.’

McCarthy, who has 340 Facebook friends, said: ‘They wouldn’t be able to evacuate all of FGH’s (Furness General Hospital) patients in time before at least one of the three explosions.’

McCarthy, from Barrow in Cumbria, who has 14 months left on licence after he was released in June for assaulting his partner, also posted: ’14 months then it’s passport and off to join my people’s cause. I cannot wait to turn my back on the UK.’ 

McCarthy, who has 340 Facebook friends, said: 'They wouldn't be able to evacuate all of FGH's (Furness General Hospital) patients in time before at least one of the three explosions'

McCarthy, who has 340 Facebook friends, said: ‘They wouldn’t be able to evacuate all of FGH’s (Furness General Hospital) patients in time before at least one of the three explosions’

McCarthy, from Barrow in Cumbria, has 14 months left on licence after he was released in June for assaulting his partner

McCarthy, from Barrow in Cumbria, has 14 months left on licence after he was released in June for assaulting his partner

Other posts were described as anti-Semitic and homophobic. McCarthy was jailed for 18 weeks, ordered to pay £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £115

Other posts were described as anti-Semitic and homophobic. McCarthy was jailed for 18 weeks, ordered to pay £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £115

Shockingly, he even mocked murdered soldier Lee Rigby who had called a ‘white coward who invades countries and rapes people,’ the court was told. 

He added: ‘ A few months left and all my brothers are free. All them months of planning and it will be like a belated bonfire night for all those involved.’ 

McCarthy was arrested on a malicious communications charge on October 8 and told officers ‘if he was going to bomb somewhere it would be the Trafford Centre’.

Maureen Fawcett, defending, said: ‘He accepts the postings would have been grossly offensive and upsetting, but they were taken out of context. ‘He had fallen out with his sister who works at the hospital. 

‘He has also never been abroad on a lads’ holiday and he wanted to leave the UK to get his life back on track.’ 

‘He reverted to become a Muslim when he was released from prison in 2015 and he is more peaceful since then. He had taken about 20 Valium on the day he posted these. 

Other posts were described as anti-Semitic and homophobic. McCarthy was jailed for 18 weeks, ordered to pay £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £115.

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