Man jailed for six years for filming himself promoting terrorism and brandishing meat cleaver

Mohammed Shakeel Yasin, 49, made a string of "disturbing" videos imploring others to attack so-called infidels.

Yasin then shared the videos on social media platforms including WhatsApp, which encrypts messages between contacts.

An investigation from the Counter Terrorism Policing unit in the North East discovered the clips after mobile phones were seized.

Counter-terrorism officers said the videos were made and shared with the intention of encouraging acts of terrorism or helping with the preparation of a terrorist act.

In December 2020, Yasin was charged with dissemination of terrorist publications - despite deleting the videos to acquit himself and evade arrest.

He was found to be guilty by a jury at Leeds Crown Court on the three counts, acting intentionally on two and recklessly on one.

Det Ch Supt Martin Snowden from Counter Terrorism Policing North East 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.”

Yasin, from Cleckheaton, West Yorks., had denied the charges of disseminating terrorist publications.