TERROR VERDICT IN CANADIAN TIRE GOLF CLUB ATTACK.

‘She was doing this for the benefit of ’ ISIL

woman who admitted to attacking workers at a Canadian Tire store with a golf club and butcher knife in an effort to help ISIL was found guilty of several terror charges Thursday following an unusual trial in which the accused largely declined to participate.

Jurors deliberated for just over an hour before delivering the verdict in the case of Rehab Dughmosh, who was arrested in July 2017 after the attack at a mall in east Toronto.

Dughmosh initially faced a total of 21 charges but was tried on four, including two counts of assault with a weapon and one of carrying a weapon — all in the name of ISIL.

She was also charged with leaving Canada for the purpose of committing a criminal offence in connection with an attempted trip to Syria in April 2016.

Dughmosh, who represented herself, did not present a defence.

The only evidence presented was an agreed statement of facts, which prosecutors said was unusual in a jury trial.

The statement clearly shows Dughmosh committed the offences in the hopes of helping the terror group whose actions she followed online and whose videos she watched, federal prosecutor Jason Wakely told the jury.

“She could not have been any clearer that she was doing this for the benefit of ISIS,” he said, using an alternate name for ISIL.

“She literally declared the words ‘This is for ISIS,’ she draped herself in an ISIS banner, she wrapped an ISIS bandana around her head and she repeatedly said words to the effect that she did this for ISIS.”

The statement, read in court, says that while Dughmosh initially denied she was travelling in an effort to join ISIL, she admitted after her arrest in 2017 that it had been the trip’s true purpose.

The statement also says Dughmosh began contemplating an attack about a year after her return and began to build an arsenal of store-bought and homemade weapons.

On June 3, 2017, Dughmosh packed several bags with a hammer, 31 metal barbecue skewers, 76 straws with screws glued to the tip, scissors and a child’s shovel “converted to claws,” the statement says.

She also hid an archery bow and 20-centimetre butcher knife inside her robe, it says.

However, on her way out, Dughmosh ran into her estranged husband, and he confiscated the bags of weapons, the statement says.

Once at Canadian Tire, she walked through the store collecting tools in a shopping basket, it says. She then went to get a golf club, it says.

Shortly after 5 p.m., Dughmosh pulled an ISIL banner from under her robe, tied an ISIL bandana around her head and took out the bow, the document says. She then grabbed the golf club and walked over to the paint section.

The statement says Dughmosh charged at three employees, swinging the club and chanting “This is for ISIS,” but staff were able to grab the club from her. She then pulled out the butcher knife, but the employees managed to wrestle her to the ground.

No one was seriously hurt.

In her interview with the RCMP’S national security unit, Dughmosh admitted she had pledged allegiance to ISIL after reading about the terror group and watching videos online.

“She said she wanted to hurt people and make them feel fear but not kill them,” the document says, explaining that the alleged attack was meant as payback for what she saw as the public’s tacit agreement with governments killing Muslims.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled Monday and lawyers are expected to make submissions on whether Dughmosh should undergo a mental health assessment.

Dughmosh previously underwent a psychological assessment and was deemed fit to stand trial.

SHE SAID SHE WANTED TO HURT PEOPLE AND MAKE THEM FEEL FEAR.