A rapping jihadi from south east London dubbed the Masked Menace is facing years behind bars for plotting a terror attack during the coronavirus lockdown.

Jobless Sahayb Abu, 27, bought an 18-inch sword, a knife, balaclavas and body armour online as he prepared to strike last summer.

He was arrested on July 9 after discussing guns with an undercover police officer, who he met on a Telegram chat group for supporters of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.

Abu claimed he wanted to become a successful rapper like Stormzy, who wore a stab vest on stage at Glastonbury.

But a jury found Abu guilty of plotting terrorist acts after deliberating for more than 21 hours.

Met Police - South east London jihadi rapper Sahayb Abu

Met Police - South east London jihadi rapper Sahayb Abu

His brother Muhamed Abu, 32, of Norwood, south London, was cleared of failing to tell authorities about the plot.

Met Police - South east London jihadi rapper Sahayb Abu

Met Police - South east London jihadi rapper Sahayb Abu

Sahayb Abu, of Dagenham, east London, will be sentenced by Judge Mark Dennis QC at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

The trial heard that several of Abu's relatives had been linked to extremism in the past.

His half-brothers Wail and Suleyman Aweys went to Syria in 2015, where they are both believed to have died.

Two years later, the Abu brothers were caught with their older half-brother Ahmed Aweys putting up poppy posters in east London saying British tax was used to "kill Muslims".

Sahayb Abu went on to associate with known terrorists while serving a sentence for burglary at Wandsworth prison in south London.

Met Police - South east London jihadi rapper Sahayb Abu

Met Police - South east London jihadi rapper Sahayb Abu

On his release on March 20 last year, he went from being "locked up to locked down" as the Covid-19 pandemic struck, jurors heard.

Over the next three months, he trawled the internet for IS propaganda, including pictures of fighters in balaclavas with guns.

He spent his £400 monthly benefits on two balaclavas, body armour, gloves, a camouflage hat and two blades, including an 18-inch sword, paying extra to get it sharpened.

He posed in his combat gear in homemade videos sent to Muhamed Abu.

He boasted the balaclava would "do the job" and said he was "just waiting on the body armour... the body armour stop a bullet".

In another disturbing rap, he described London mayor Sadiq Khan as a "sell-out" and talked about murdered soldier Lee Rigby.

He said: "I'm trying to see many Lee Rigbys heads rolling on the ground, man I shoot up a crowd cos I'm a night stalker, got my shank got my guns straight Isis supporter, reject democracy.

"Got my suicide vest, one click, boom and I'll see you later."

He also posted extremist comments online and came to the attention of an undercover officer known as Rachid in an exclusive IS supporters' encrypted chat group on Telegram.

The pair met twice, and during their conversation used code words "silah" and "duty free" for firearms.

Met Police - South east London jihadi rapper Sahayb Abu

Met Police - South east London jihadi rapper Sahayb Abu

On his arrest, police uncovered a black IS flag in the flat where Sahayb Abu was staying.

In his defence, he denied buying the sword and combat gear for a terror attack.

He dismissed extremist posts as "trolling" and claimed he joined the Telegram group to attract women with his "bravado".

He claimed to hate IS, saying his interest in the terror group was for news of his lost half-brothers.

His lawyer Michael Ivers QC said the personas - "merciless troll", "Jihadi fan boy" and "wannabe drill rapper" - all betrayed a desperate desire to be accepted.

Sahayb Abu has no previous terror-related convictions but was caught drug dealing in France and having a knife.