West London man jailed for funding terrorism

A barber from West London has been jailed after being convicted of sending thousands of pounds to fund terrorist activity in Syria.

Tarek Namouz was found to have exchanged messages with a Daesh supporter in Syria. The messages discussed purchasing weapons and explosives to use against Syrian government forces. It was discovered that Namouz had sent more than £11,280 to his contact in Syria over a number of months.

Detectives found records of £11,280 being sent via a money transfer bureau in west London. However, Namouz was recorded telling someone who had come to visit him in prison, whilst on remand, that he had sent around £25,000.

The court was told that Namouz had received government grants during the pandemic to help his business.

Namouz was arrested in May 2021 in a pre-planned operation by counter terrorism officers.

When arrested, Namouz told officers that he didn't have a phone, though detectives found one during a search. Daesh propaganda material was found on the phone, including thousands of messages and documents which had been downloaded from Telegram. A video was found containing instructions on how to create an improvised explosive device, while another video explained how to carry out knife attacks.

Commander Richard Smith, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Terrorist groups rely on funding to carry out their activities and to continue to operate.

“People like Namouz who provide money to terrorist groups - both in the UK and overseas - are enabling others to go and commit serious and deadly attacks, and we will always pursue and investigate those people and seek to bring them to justice.”

Following his conviction for ten terrorism offences last month, the 43-year-old has been sentenced to 12 year's imprisonment and one year on licence at Kingston Crown Court. Namouz was found guilty of eight counts of funding terrorism and two counts of possessing information likely to be useful for terrorism at Kingston Crown Court on 8 December 2022.

Passing sentence, HHJ Lodder KC said: “In 2020 and 2021, you ran a barbers shop in Hammersmith. You were entitled to Covid bounce-back loans which were paid to you by the local council. You sent that money, and other money, through a west London transfer and currency exchange, to terrorists in Syria.”

Image: Jim Linwood from London, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons