Edinburgh chef sparked counter terror incident after sending stab vest photos to restaurant boss

Iqbal left his employment following a dispute over his pay in February last year.

Khalid Iqbal, 38, also pictured himself waving a large knife before sending the pictures to restaurant manager Neil Williams.

Iqbal, from Moredun, Edinburgh, had left his employment at the Capital’s Cafe Andaluz in George Street following a dispute over his pay in February last year.

The cook then fell out with work colleague and flatmate Sergio Sancho over the purchase of a television around the same time.

He called Mr Williams accusing Mr Sancho of stealing from his work locker before asking the manager “for assistance to stitch Sancho up”.

Iqbal then took the threatening pictures of himself wearing the stab vest and brandishing the blade and sent them to Mr Williams on the WhatsApp social media platform.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the restaurant manager was left shocked at receiving the images and called the police to report the incident.

Fiscal depute Lynsey Magro said after viewing the pictures police officers “contacted the Counter Terrorism Unit” before raiding Iqbal’s flat the following day.

Ms Magro told the court armed response officers turned up at Iqbal’s three-bedroomed home at around 3.30pm on February 25 last year.

The stab vest and knife were then recovered within the home during a police search of the property.

The fiscal said the incident occurred after Iqbal had asked Mr Sancho to leave the property they shared due to a falling out over the purchase of a TV.

Iqbal then attempted to take revenge on Mr Sancho by contacting restaurant boss Mr Williams and subsequently sent the disturbing images to him.

The court was also told Iqbal sent threatening messages to Mr Williams including “tick, tock, rocked the wrong boat” and “don’t f*** with what you don't know”.

During Friday’s hearing solicitor John Good, defending, said his client suffered from ”underlying mental health problems” but reserved his full mitigation to the sentencing hearing.

Sheriff Chris Dickson deferred sentence for the preparation of reports until next month.

Iqbal pleaded guilty to an amended charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by repeatedly sending the offending messages and photos through social media to Neil Williams on 23 and 24 February last year.

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