A man from Kirklees in northern England has been sentenced to six years in prison for creating and sharing video clips promoting a terrorist ideology.
Mohammed Shakeel Yasin was found guilty of three counts of dissemination of terrorist publications at Leeds Crown Court on Friday June 16 2021. He was found to have acted intentionally on two counts and recklessly on the third.
The 49-year-old created footage of himself brandishing weapons and promoting extreme Islamist ideology, with the intention of encouraging acts of terrorism or helping with the preparation of a terrorist act. He then shared the videos with others via social messaging platforms.
The clips were discovered on seized mobile phones during an investigation led by Counter Terrorism Policing North East. Despite attempting to conceal his actions by deleting the footage, Yasin was charged in November 2020.
Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden is the Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East. He said: “Mohammed Shakeel Yasin created disturbing videos, including one in which he brandished a meat cleaver, to encourage others to inflict violence on people who did not conform to his extremist ideology.
“Not only did he personally film the clip, but he then shared it via WhatsApp to other individuals known to him – including a potentially vulnerable young person.
“The level of the terrorism threat in the U.K. continues to be substantial, meaning an attack is a strong possibility. To address this threat, specialist teams across the are working tirelessly to thwart terrorist planning, radicalization and extremism.”
Read more at Counter Terrorism Policing
