Nottingham man jailed for terror offences

A man from Nottingham has been jailed after encouraging others to commit terrorism.

In September 2020, Ajmal Shahpal published tweets showing support for a terrorist who attacked members of the public close to Charlie Hebdo’s former offices in Paris, a day after the attack.

He also posted tweets a month later, praising the murder of teacher Samuel Paty.

He was arrested at his home in March 2021 and was charged in April 2022.

He was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of publishing statements on his Twitter account, between 15 October 2020 and 30 October 2020, intentionally encouraging members of the public to commit, prepare, or instigate terrorism. He was also found guilty of publishing statements on his Twitter account, on 26 September 2020, recklessly encouraging the commission, preparation, or instigation of terrorism.

Shahpal was sentenced to five-and-half-years in prison and will serve an additional year on extended licence. He has also been made subject of a 15-year terrorist notification requirement once released, requiring he provide police with certain information.

Detective Inspector David Bola, of Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands, said: “The tweets in question showed clear support for those who carried out terrorist attacks and were considered to be a call for action inciting others to act in the manner demonstrated by those attackers.

“The account was used by Shahpal to share an extremist ideology and his tweets in support for ‘the punishment of blasphemers’ were clearly inflammatory, inciting and potentially deadly.

“Today’s outcome is the result of a collaborative effort involving officers and staff across the East Midlands region and Counter Terrorism Policing network, who work hard to protect our communities from terrorism.

“Judge Inman KC thanked the investigation team for their thoroughness and hard work in getting the case before the court.

“Our number one priority is always public safety and that’s why we work so closely with our counter terrorism partners and other agencies.

“Police will always act on information relating to terrorism and continue to work tirelessly to root out offenders, as well as take a multi-agency approach to protecting vulnerable people from being exploited by extremists.

“If you’ve noticed a family member or friend is acting differently, their behaviour has changed or you are concerned they have started to have extreme views then please act early and report it at the earliest opportunity.

“If you see or hear something that doesn’t seem right, trust your instincts and ACT by reporting to police in confidence at gov.uk/ACT. In an emergency, always dial 999.”

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