By Dianne Apen-sadler For Mailonline
Published: 17:23 BST, 1 April 2019 | Updated: 17:23 BST, 1 April 2019
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Two British school friends have been found guilty of plotting to join ISIS in Syria after they were caught with camping gear and survival equipment at an Istanbul hotel.
Safwaan Mansur, from Birmingham, and Hanzalah Patel, from Leicester, travelled to Turkey in 2016 and 2017 after checking out an area near the Syrian border on TripAdvisor, a two-week trial was told.
Jurors heard the men, who spent nine days in jail in Turkey in 2017 after being arrested at an Istanbul hotel, bought camping equipment, outdoor survival clothing and airline tickets before travelling initially to Germany.
Prosecutors alleged Mansur and Patel, both 22, went on a 24-hour bus journey from Istanbul to near the Syrian border during a previous visit to Turkey in 2016.
Opening the case against the pair at Birmingham Crown Court, prosecutor Simon Davis said they were arrested at Heathrow Airport in 2017 after being reported missing by family members.
Safwaan Mansur (left), from Birmingham, and Hanzalah Patel, from Leicester, were found guilty of plotting to join ISIS in Syria after the pair were caught with camping equipment at a hotel in Istanbul in 2017
During subsequent questioning by police, the court heard Mansur said he
