Kent teenager pleads guilty to sharing terrorist material

A 19-year-old from Kent has pleaded guilty to a number of terrorism offences related to sharing terrorist material online.

Leo Walby pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on 2 April to six counts of dissemination of terrorist material, contrary to section 2 of the Terrorism Act (TACT), 2006 and one count of failing to disclose a password, after being served notice, contrary to section 53, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), 2000.

He was arrested on 4 October 2024, as part of an investigation by officers from the Counter Terrorism Command. Officers carried out a search at the address in Swanley, where he was arrested and seized various digital devices.

During the investigation, officers found evidence that Walby had been sharing various posts sharing extreme Islamist-related terrorist material, including Daesh propaganda through various social media accounts he was controlling.

He was charged on 5 October with six counts of disseminating terrorist material.

Officers applied to the court for a ‘section 49 notice’ to compel Walby to provide them with a password to a cloud-based storage account he held. After the notice was obtained, Walby still refused to provide the password and was subsequently charged with failing to provide the password, contrary to section 53, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), 2000.

Walby has been remanded in custody and is due to appear for sentencing at the Old Bailey on 9 May.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “Our investigation found that Walby was sharing various pieces of terrorist material across a number of social media accounts he was controlling. This kind of content can be extremely harmful, so where we identify people like Walby who are responsible for this, then we will take action and he is now facing the very serious consequences of doing this.

“I’d encourage anyone who comes across extremist or terrorist material online to report it to our specialist team who will review to determine whether further police action is necessary and appropriate.”