Manchester man jailed for possessing 'colossal amount of extremist material'

A Manchester man who positioned himself as a 'religious authority' and encouraged support for terrorist organisations has been jailed for 41 months.

Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW) believe the material possessed by Wissam Tariq Mahmoud Ziad, which supported extremist group Daesh, was 'capable of encouraging terrorism'.

Ziad (30/09/2001), of Central Avenue, Levenshulme, admitted eight charges under the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Terrorism Act 2006:

• 6 x Dissemination of Terrorist Publications
• 1 x Encouragement of Terrorism
• 1 x Support of a Proscribed Organisation

He was sentenced today (Thursday 9 December 2021) at Manchester Crown Court.

Ziad first came to the attention of CTPNW when an acquaintance was stopped at Stansted Airport in September 2019.

The examination of a seized mobile phone contained links to Islamic extremist material from a chat group called 'Roma Pizza’ administered by Ziad.

The conversations ranged from general chat to the sharing of terrorist material and views about Daesh.

Ziad, who has British/Jordanian nationality, was arrested in May 2020 and his phone and computer seized.

An examination of the devices revealed he was active in group chats and private chats, and was the admin for several groups.

His electronic devices also contained a 'colossal' number of files containing propaganda material supporting extremist groups.

Ziad used the groups to share his extremist beliefs and disseminate material with people in the UK and around the world.

He was re-arrested on Tuesday 15 June 2021 when police attended his address in Levenshulme and he later admitted eight charges under Terrorism Act legislation.

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Meeks, of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, said: "Ziad possessed a colossal amount of extremist material capable of encouraging terrorism, and used social media and chat groups to communicate with people all over the world, using VPNs to hide his identity while online.

"The social media and communication platforms allowed him to receive and disseminate extremist publications and enable others to access material supporting Daesh.

"He incited support and encouraged others to research extremist organisations, positioning himself as a religious authority - he is a dangerous man with extremist views and is quite rightly behind bars."