A former soldier accused of terror offences has told the Old Bailey he bought a book containing bomb-making instructions on Amazon.

The 25-year-old from Norwich, who the court has ruled must be referred to as S Forster, is on trial for possessing terrorist publications.

He has denied three charges of possessing information likely to be “useful” to someone committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Giving evidence in court, Forster, of Cardiff Road, told the court one of the offending objects - a book containing diagrams related to bomb-building - had been purchased via the retail giant when he was 16.

The book - called US Army Improvised Munitions Handbook - contained "clear instructions for the manufacture of explosive substances".

Forster said he had bought the book because it "looked interesting" and did not expect it to have illegal content.

He said: "At the time I was interested in military warfare and thought the book looked interesting so I purchased it.

"If I buy a book from Waterstones I would not expect to end up in any kind of trouble so would not expect something like that to be readily and available on Amazon either."

Police also recovered a 24-page document 'Middle Eastern Terrorist - Bomb Designs' in a file labelled 'bomb.jpg' from his mobile phone.

Forster said he had "no recollection" of downloading this file, but said he may have done so by mistake after it appeared in a group chat.

Meanwhile, he admitted to owning a 'Hitler Youth knife' - which he said he used for whittling - and to posing for photographs giving Nazi salutes.

He said: "I do not have that natural instinct of seeing a Nazi salute and being shocked by it.

"It is no different to putting your middle finger up."

The trial continues.