A man from Brighton who tried to encourage members of his community to commit jihad has been convicted of a terrorism offence.
AbuBaker Deghayes of Arundel Drive East, Saltdean, Brighton was arrested under Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006 in July 2021 by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) and Sussex Police.
He was subsequently charged with encouraging terrorism.
The charge followed an incident on 1st November 2020, where the 53-year-old made an uninvited speech at Dyke Road Mosque in Brighton in which he encouraged people to commit violent jihad.
He stated that jihad was an obligation and encouraged jihad by sword.
He also explicitly excluded non-violent jihad and criticised Prevent, which is a strand of the Governments Counter-Terrorism strategy that aims to prevent violent extremism through mentoring and counselling.
Yesterday, January 19th, Deghayes was found guilty of encouraging terrorism by a jury at the Central Criminal Court.
He will be sentenced on Friday, February 25th, at the same court.
Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, QPM, Head of CTPSE, said:
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those within the community who support and assist officers during investigations of this nature.
“It is vitally important that communities come forward with this information if they think someone has been or is trying to radicalise others.
“By reporting to us, we can take action and investigate.”
Sussex Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Tanya Jones, said:
“This investigation demonstrates that we, along with our partners in CTPSE, will stop all forms of toxic ideology which have the potential to divide our communities and threaten the safety of the public.
“We understand incidents such as this occurring locally can be concerning, but please be assured that a full investigation has taken place and there is no wider risk to the public.
“Our officers will be carrying out further engagement work in the community and ask anybody with any concerns to let them know in person or to report them to us via the Sussex Police website, by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who supported this investigation and helped to achieve this conviction.”
A spokesperson for Sussex Police added:
“There is lots of help and support available if the behaviour of someone you are close to has changed and you are worried they may have become radicalised in their views.
“Every year thousands of reports from the public help police tackle the terrorist threat – and we need this to continue. We would always encourage people to report anything suspicious.
“If you see or hear something that doesn’t seem right, please trust your instincts and ACT early.”
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One question. Is this man British? If not, send him back to his country of origin. If his dependents cannot survive without state support, they go too. We should not waste money jailing him. Find him guilty, let him have his appeal, if his grounds are appropriate and then get rid of him forever.
If he is British, lock him up forever. End of conversation. We released Anjam Choudary and he is back on the hatred trail and will cause us endless trouble in future. He should be locked up forever too.
Furthermore, we should set up a system of naturalisation that prevents applicants from renouncing their original nationalities, ideally through 3 generations. If they misbehave, their UK passport is revoked and they go back where they came from. If their kids misbehave, they are held in youth custody and on their 18th birthday, they are on a flight out.
I agree with every thing that is said by Kevan Chippindall- Higgin. I also congratulate Him for voicing His opinion the way He has.Make no mistake the radicals we allow to breed and enter this country of ours is totally unsustainable. It is time for the authorities to protect us on our own ground.