Teenager jailed for terrorism offences

A 19-year-old from Birmingham has been jailed for possessing and distributing terrorism material.

Shaan Farooq was found guilty last month of three counts of intentionally distributing terrorism material after he had previously pleaded guilty to possessing terrorism material from May to July 2022.

He has now been sentenced to three four-year sentences for intentionally distributing terrorism material and 18 months for possessing terrorism material.

Searching his home in July 2022, detectives found a phone, laptop, tablet and iPad, which contained extremist material and images supporting the banned organisation Islamic State.

Farooq was arrested in August 2022, while his friend Amir El-Harith was also being arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences.

El-Harith was jailed in July last year for six and a half years for terrorism offences. He was sentenced to three years for three charges of dissemination of terrorist publications after he transmitted videos between April and June 2022 to encourage others to commit, prepare or instigate acts of terrorism with the material relating to Islamic State. He was sentenced to six and a half years for three counts of encouraging terrorism between April and May 2023, where he published videos on Instagram. The sentences are to run concurrently.