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Man sentenced for glorifying terrorism

A man has been sentenced after sharing graphic videos online.

Faseh Sajid, from Bristol, was found guilty of five counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006. He was found not guilty of another count of the same offence.

The 21-year-old was sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment, following a trial at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey).

The conviction comes after an investigation by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE).

Police executed a search warrant at Sajid's home in November 2022 and seized a number of electronic devices. The devices contained evidence of his extreme Islamist ideology. He was subsequently arrested in January 2023.

Sajid had used the name John Ross on Telegram. The investigation found that he regularly shared material with other users on the chats and downloaded, edited, and created his own videos based on Daesh footage which he further shared. The videos he created contained footage of soldiers fighting, mass executions, beheadings, flag waving and celebrations.

He also sent a video published by the Al Qaeda media wing which encouraged terrorism against the West. It featured footage of the Lee Rigby killers, ALM members, imagery of 9/11 and jihadi fighters training, the 7/7 bombings and a video of Osama Bin Laden.  

Evidence showed that he was also part of group chats with other members in which they shared graphic and extremist content with each other. Sajid posted videos on the chat which it appeared he had edited including montages of improvised explosive devices, executions by gunshot, beheadings and flag waving for Daesh, overlaid with drill music.  

Detective Chief Superintendent Olly Wright, Head of CTPSE, said: “Sajid shared extremely graphic propaganda videos showing battle scenes in Iraq and Syria, deceased fighters and a live execution. By doing so, he was making attempts to radicalise people who viewed this hate-filled content.  

“While Sajid tried to cover his tracks, such as by attempting to anglicize his name online, our officers carried out extensive work examining his electronic devices and uncovering his extreme Islamist ideology.  

“Sajid was just 18 years old when he began spreading this extremely harmful rhetoric. I therefore stress how important it is that, if you are concerned about a young person, or indeed anyone who is sharing or viewing extreme material, please do report this to keep everyone safe.”

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