Islamic State fanatic made drive-by video near Irish Guards base

A teenage Islamic State fanatic who spread terrorist propaganda which said politicians, police and soldiers were the 'best of all people to kill' has been jailed.
By The Newsroom
Published 21st Sep 2017, 15:50 BST
Updated 21st Sep 2017, 15:52 BST
Taha Hussain, a teenage Islamic State fanatic who spread terrorist propaganda which said politicians, police and soldiers were the "best of all people to kill"Taha Hussain, a teenage Islamic State fanatic who spread terrorist propaganda which said politicians, police and soldiers were the "best of all people to kill"
Taha Hussain, a teenage Islamic State fanatic who spread terrorist propaganda which said politicians, police and soldiers were the "best of all people to kill"

Taha Hussain was 19 at the time he began sharing videos and audio files on social media attempting to justify the Charlie Hebdo and Paris attacks, and offering advice to those contemplating going to Syria, Kingston Crown Court heard.

Hussain, who filmed himself driving past Windsor Castle and Victoria Barracks, home to the Coldstream Guards, a night after the Paris terror attacks and during which shouts of “Allahu akhbar” and “burn in hell” could be heard - was convicted of seven counts of disseminating terror documents on social media.

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Sentencing him to four-and-a-half years in prison, Judge Paul Dodgson described some of the evidence as “chilling”.

He said: “The Windsor videos illustrated quite graphically what his (Hussain’s) state of mind was at the time.”

The trial heard Hussain attended Islamic “road shows” and became increasingly extreme in the two years before his arrest in August last year.

One document shared by Hussain included an article which offered advice to would-be terrorists on how to prepare, how to get past airport security, how to conceal their intentions from their parents - as the defendant had done - and how to behave on arriving in Syria.

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Another file offered advice to fighters who could not travel abroad to “kill the kuffar (unbeliever) in their own country”.

It went into detail about who should be attacked, such as public officials, and how to kill them efficiently with a knife or a basic explosive device, the court heard.

Sentencing, the judge said: “More chillingly in light of recent events there is a chapter eight containing advice to those who could not go to Syria, or ‘Sham’ as it is described.”

Hussain also made a drive-by video near Cavalry Barracks in Hounslow, the base of 1st Battalion Irish Guards.