How police stopped a far-right terror attack on a Scottish mosque
A Scottish mosque targeted in a far-right terror attack plot has increased its security, but the tight-knit community remains strong.
The Inverclyde Muslim Centre in Greenock, Scotland, spoke to Sky News about the terror plot and the sense of betrayal that the teenage perpetrator, who pleaded guilty under the Terrorism Act, sought to gain their trust by pretending to convert to Islam.
Hamid Akhtar told Sky News of the “frightening” feeling that someone could prove “so nice and so conning” about wanting to convert and gaining their help and support.
The mosque has since added more security cameras.
Adeel Naeen expressed his support for the police for stopping the plot, and that the community remains strong, nor has the plot stopped them from attending the mosque.
Staff at the mosque also described the overwhelming amount of support they received from the wider community, and that the imam wants to show mercy towards the perpetrator and his family, according to the Greenock Telegraph, in an article about the visit of local MP Martin McCluskey and his message of unity.
News of the guilty verdict made headlines last month, as it emerged that the 17-year-old idolised neo-Nazi terrorists like Anders Breivik and embraced the fascism of Hitler, Mussolini and that of Eion O’Duffy.
The teen, who was sixteen at the time of his arrest (and cannot be named for legal reasons due to their age), had sought to bomb his school before deciding to target the mosque. According to Telegram chat logs, he also considered an antisemitic terror attack on a synagogue via ‘infiltration’ to begin with.
He also wrote a vile screed and sought to target the mosque at its fullest capacity.
When officers searched their address, they found a copy of the banned text The Anarchist’s Cookbook, Mein Kampf, knives, airsoft weapons and ingredients related to explosive substances.
The threats to mosques across Britain in recent weeks ranged from hate crimes to terrorism-related cases in 2025, including a man accused of throwing a pipe bomb inside an Islamic centre in Belfast as worshippers prayed inside in June. In May, three neo-Nazis who stockpiled an arsenal of over 200 weapons were found guilty of a terror plot against a Leeds mosque.
66-year-old Edmund Fowler pleaded guilty last month to four charges of racially aggravated harassment after releasing rats on separate occasions into the grounds of the Grand Mosque in Sheffield, and shouting racist abuse at worshippers entering the mosque.
Fowler received an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, which included a ban on going near mosques for the same length of time. Responding to the verdict, Tell MAMA’s director, Iman Atta, spoke of its dehumanising nature to ITV News, stressing that, “It’s highly stressful and distressing for communities. It’s not just a targeting of an institution – it’s the impact it has on the congregation” adding that “this is intentional harassment that they’re going through on an ongoing basis.”
Meanwhile, in Aberdeen, the courts jailed an 18-year-old who vandalised a mosque with paint and smashed a window, receiving a six-month prison sentence. The chairman of the mosque, Naveed Mohammed, expressed his gratitude to the local community for joining in the clean-up and for their messages of support and solidarity.
More broadly, ITV News added that Tell MAMA had received 20 incidents towards mosques and Islamic centres in the previous six months.
A joint survey between ITV News and Tell MAMA about mosque safety in 2023 revealed that of the 117 mosques surveyed, almost 90 per cent experienced anti-Muslim hate crimes in the previous 12 months.
We continue to work nationally with various police forces and mosques, providing security advice and liaising between both parties.
Tell MAMA also continues to assist faith institutions with advice when submitting applications for the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme, and we encourage those interested to ask any questions via our info@tellmamauk.org
Mosques and Islamic centres are encouraged to familiarise themselves with our tailored safety tips, which are freely available from our website.
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