A young Bristol man who shared graphic videos from al Qaeda and Islamic State online has been jailed for three years and nine months. Faseh Sajid, who also created his own videos to share on the social messaging site Telegram, was found guilty of five counts of ‘dissemination of a terrorist publication’, after a trial at the Old Bailey back in August – he was found ‘not guilty’ of a sixth count.
The 21-year-old appeared again at the London court to be sentenced on Friday (September 20), as police said he was ‘making attempts to radicalise people’ by sharing the videos. Sajid, from Speedwell in Bristol, was just 18 when he first began creating and sharing the videos, and used the name ‘John Ross’ as his Telegram account name, as he chatted to other people, telling them it was to ‘avoid getting arrested’.
But in November 2022, Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE), assisted by colleagues in the South West, raided his east Bristol home and seized phones and laptops which contained evidence of his extremist Islamist ideology. The phones and laptops showed that Sajid regularly shared material with other users on the chats, and made something of a name for himself for creating videos which took footage filmed by al Qaeda and Daesh (Islamic State) edited it together with a modern drill or hip-hop music soundtrack.
He then shared them back out onto Telegram, which the court heard encouraged terrorism against the West. The videos featured footage of the killers of Lee Rigby, ALM members, imagery of 9/11, jihadi fighters training, the 7/7 bombings in London and a video of Osama bin Laden. Other videos included montages he’d edited showing improvised explosive devices, executions by gunshot, beheadings and flag waving for Daesh.
“Sajid shared extremely graphic propaganda videos showing battle scenes in Iraq and Syria, deceased fighters and a live execution,” said Det Chief Supt Olly Wright, the head of CTPSE. “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,” he added.
Sajid was jailed for a total of 45 months – three years and nine months – at the Old Bailey.