Father of four accused of encouraging terrorism

A father of four from South Norwood who posted homemade films glorifying the so-called Islamic State online has been convicted of encouraging terrorism. Gary Staples, 50, uploaded the clips on YouTube and Google Plus between May and September 2016. He was found guilty of seven counts of encouraging terrorism and one count of disseminating a terrorist publication. The jury heard Staples created eight of the videos he posted, while another was made by the media arm of IS, Al Hayat. Staples, who denied all charges, was cleared of one other count of encouraging terrorism and remanded in custody ahead of sentencing. Prosecutor Ben Lloyd told the court Staples’ purpose was to ‘encourage members of the public to commit, prepare or instigate acts of terrorism’. Dean Haydon, Met Police, said: “Staples was clearly publishing and sharing extremist and terrorist content, with a view to encouraging others to engage with and carry out acts of terrorism. "He tried to avoid detection by using what he thought were anonymous usernames but we were able to trace them back to him.”