Man convicted of terrorism offences for the third time

A man who had two previous terror-related convictions has been jailed again for posting extremist content online.

Shafi Saleem posted Daesh propaganda footage on one of his private social media feeds in July 2022. The footage included a series of suicide bombings.

After investigation by by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, Saleem was arrested on 14 February 2023 at Heathrow Airport as he landed back in the UK on a flight from Pakistan. He was charged the next day.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Saleem was found guilty of dissemination of a terrorist publication (under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006) on Tuesday, 20 February.

He also previously pleaded guilty to breach of a part 4 notification requirement under the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 (relating to his being in possession of an additional/unregistered SIM card), and using threatening words to cause alarm (section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986), which relates to his behaviour towards officers when he was arrested.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

Saleem was previously jailed in February 2018 for two years for encouragement of terrorism after posting images and messages promoting Daesh on social media. He was released from prison in February 2019, and was on probation licence and subject to a 10-year Part 4 Notification Order.

In December 2020, he was jailed for 10 months for breaching this Part 4 Order.

Detective Chief Superintendent Hayley Sewart, of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Extremist content online can cause serious harm in communities, particularly to young and other vulnerable people, and it is often intended to radicalise and recruit people to terrorist causes. That is why we work hard to identify people who post this kind of material, and to get it removed from websites.

“Terrorism offenders always have conditions imposed upon them when they are released from prison into communities, to minimise the risk of reoffending and to protect the public.

“The fact that this is the second time Saleem has been found to breach these conditions shows how strictly police enforce them.”

Image by Kev from Pixabay