Barnsley man sentenced for possessing terrorist material

A man from Barnsley has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment and an additional five years on licence (following his release from prison) after being found guilty of possessing a document which may be of use to a terrorist, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Ashley Podsiad Sharp was found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court back in May.

He was arrested in June 2022 following the discovery of concerning material he had posted in connection with an online athletics club and was charged by Counter Terrorism Policing North East in October 2022.

Detective Chief Superintendent James Dunkerley, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East said: “Tackling extremist and instructional material is an essential part of protecting the public and preventing it from potentially influencing or informing the actions of others.

“We will prosecute anyone found to be in possession of such material and will continue work with our partners to remove content of concern from online platforms."

Bencherlite, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons