A man was sentenced to four years of imprisonment after sharing a number of Daesh videos glorifying terrorism on various online platforms over an 18-month period.
Mohammad Zubair Khan, 22, was investigated by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command after officers found that he had posted an extremist video on Twitter in May 2021. He was arrested in November 2021.
Khan admitted to multiple terrorism offences at the Old Bailey in November 2022, and was sentenced on Friday, 9 June, to four years’ imprisonment and one year on licence.
The Met urged people to report terrorist content they come across online following the sentencing of Khan.
Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Terrorist groups like Daesh produce online content to try and radicalise and recruit others, and encourage them to commit terrorist acts.
“Suspects being exposed to, and seeking out this kind of material is a feature of many of our terrorism investigations. But we have a specialist team which is proactive in finding this kind of harmful content, and working with online media companies to get it removed quickly.
“The public can also play a vital role – we would urge anyone who sees extremist content on social media, or on a website to report it straight away. We will investigate where appropriate, and act to get this dangerous propaganda taken down.”
An investigation was launched in June 2021 after officers from the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) were made aware of a video produced by a proscribed terrorist organisation which had been posted on Twitter.
Through their enquiries, they discovered that the account that had posted it was linked to Mohammad Khan.
After completing further enquiries, on 16 November 2021 officers attended Mohammad’s home address with a warrant to search the property. Mohammad was arrested under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
His devices were seized and analysed by the National Digital Exploitation Service (NDES).
From this, they were able to identify other instances where extremist material – Islamist terrorism propaganda videos, featuring Daesh fighters and depicting extreme violence – had been downloaded and then shared with others on messaging apps by Khan.
Officers also found messages where Khan praised the activities of terrorist groups abroad.
Upon being interviewed, he denied supporting any terrorist causes.
Mohammad Khan, 22 (12.07.00), was charged on Monday, 22 November with eight counts of dissemination of terrorist material (contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006).
He initially denied the charges, and was due to stand trial – however, he pleaded guilty just prior to the trial start date on 9 November 2022.
Extreme online content can be reported online and anonymously via https://www.gov.uk/report-terrorism
It can also be reported via the iREPORTit app.
