A man from east London been sentenced (18th Jan) to five years and four months’ imprisonment for terrorism offences, following an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Ahmed Hussain, 28 (15.10.90) of east London was convicted after officers found him in possession of a large number of terrorist documents and propaganda linked to Daesh, some of which he intended to or had sent on to others.
He was also convicted of encouragement of terrorism, having posted numerous messages on his social media accounts in support of Daesh.
Acting Commander Alexis Boon, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said:
“The material my officers retrieved from Hussain’s mobile phone was disturbing.
“The videos contained graphic violence and some of the magazine articles Hussain had downloaded celebrated the killing of innocent people in the terrorist attacks of 2017.
“Hussain sent messages to others in which he enthused about terrorism and encouraged them to adopt his warped views.
“If he had not been arrested, Hussain likely would have continued his efforts to radicalise and inspire others for the foreseeable.”
Following his arrest on 13 April 2018, detectives seized Hussain’s phone, upon which they found a large number of violent pro-Daesh videos and images.
Officers also discovered two Daesh-related magazine publications which contained instructions and information on how to carry out terrorist attacks.
As the investigation progressed, officers analysed Hussain’s social media activity and found that from April 2017 he had posted comments in support of Daesh on his Facebook account and that he encouraged others to commit terrorist acts and support Daesh.
Among the posts were messages effectively showing support for those who carried out terrorist attacks including those in the Manchester Arena and London Bridge attacks in 2017.
Counter terrorism officers also found he kept several Daesh propaganda videos on his smartphone, which they believed he intended to share with others.
Hussain was subsequently charged with terrorism offences on 19 April 2018 – six days after he was arrested.
In total, Hussain pleaded guilty to one count of encouragement of terrorism, contrary to section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006; one count of dissemination of terrorist publications, contrary to section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006, and two counts of collection of information of a kind likely to be of use to a person committing or planning an act of terrorism, contrary to section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
If you suspect someone of being involved in terrorism, then call the anti-terrorist hotline on: 0800 789 321
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