'Topshop terrorist' is jailed for seven years

2021-09-01

Ginger ‘Topshop terrorist’ Muslim convert, 44, who shared ISIS suicide beheading videos with undercover policewoman on Facebook and was friends with Westminster terrorist is jailed for seven years

Ibrahim Roger Anderson, 44, from Luton, shared extremist videos online
Pledged support to IS unaware the woman he was speaking to was officer
He was handed a seven-year jail sentence after admitting terror offences
In 2016 he was jailed for three years for setting up stall promoting ISIS in London

A Muslim convert who admitted sharing extremist videos on social media while subject to a terrorism notification order has been jailed for seven years.

Ibrahim Roger Anderson, 44, who is a follower of hate preacher Anjem Choudary, shared videos which depicted ‘extremely graphic’ footage of Islamic State executions and suicide bombings online.

He also pledged support for the terrorist group unaware the woman he was speaking to on Facebook and Telegram was an undercover police officer.

The car mechanic of Luton in Bedfordshire, was handed a seven-year jail sentence at the Old Bailey on Wednesday after admitting a string of terror offences.

It comes after Anderson, who knew the Westminster terrorist Khalid Masood, was jailed for three years in 2016 after setting up a stall outside a Topshop store in central London to drum up support for ISIS.

Ibrahim Roger Anderson, 44, of Luton in Bedfordshire, was handed a seven-year jail sentence at the Old Bailey on Wednesday

Sentencing judge Philip Katz QC said of the footage Anderson shared: ‘Some of it is at the worst end of the range seen in this court.’

Prosecutor Julia Faure Walker said Anderson shared videos with the undercover officer which depicted ‘extremely graphic’ footage of Islamic State executions, suicide bombings, and glorification of past battles.

The propaganda – with titles including ‘Flames Of War’, ‘Answer The Call’, and ‘Procession Of Light’ – also featured a father encouraging his children to follow him into martyrdom.

In one message to the undercover officer, Anderson, a father himself, said: ‘We will, with the help of Tawhid (the belief in the oneness of God), raise the black flag over London.’

Anderson pleaded guilty to 10 counts of disseminating terrorist publications, and four charges of possession of terrorist publications relating to Islamic State, and was told he would serve two-thirds of his sentence before being eligible for parole.

He also admitted breaching his terror notification requirements when he withheld an email address from the police in an attempt to prevent the police from linking him with the Facebook account, receiving an additional 12-month jail term.

Patrick Harte, defending, said his client was ‘contrite’, more open-minded about other religions, and expressed his remorse.

But he said he ‘turned to the internet for some sort of release’ during the coronavirus pandemic, when he spoke with the undercover officer.

In 2016, Anderson was jailed for three years after setting up a stall in London to drum up support for ISIS. But after his release, images on his social media page showed a box filled with bullets along with the caption: ‘I found a box of pills that cure paedophilia’

He also showed his Facebook followers an image of an AK-47 assault rifle placed in front of a prayer mat after being released from prison

Anderson was jailed for three years after setting up the stall outside a Topshop store on Oxford Street in central London to drum up support for ISIS

The judge added: ‘Like so many others, you were spending too much time in the dark regions of the internet.’

In 2016, Anderson was jailed for three years after setting up the stall outside a Topshop store on Oxford Street in central London to drum up support for ISIS in 2014.

He and fellow extremist Shah Jahan Khan also handed out leaflets to attract potential followers to the terror group.

During one incident, sisters Asmaa and Reem Al-Jufaisha, who were returning from a nearby Palestinian rights demonstration, confronted the pair.

Anderson went to the same gym as Westminster killer Khalid Masood

Anderson told the Iraqi Shia Muslim sisters they were ‘Khuffar’, a derogatory term for non-believers, and told them to ‘go die.’

Unperturbed, the women took pictures of the men and stall decorated with the ISIS logo, which they handed over to police.

Anderson was easily identified from his distinctive ginger beard and the sisters also picked out Khan during an identification parade, the Old Bailey heard.

After their actions were brought to light by the Muslim sisters, officers raided Anderson’s home and found instructions for travel to Syria on a notebook computer.

Anderson, a father-of-five, had previous convictions for assault and possessing an imitation firearm.

Both men were jailed for two years, but Anderson was given an extra 12-month sentence for the material found on his computer.

It later emerged that Anderson used the same gym as terrorist Khalid Masood, who killed four pedestrians and PC Keith Palmer during the Westminster terror attacks in 2017.

Masood’s inquest was told that the pair knew each other well enough to say ‘hi’ to.

During his attack, Masood ploughed a car into crowds on the bridge in London and then stabbed and killed unarmed PC Keith Palmer before he was shot by armed police in a courtyard outside Parliament.

Masood’s rampage left five people dead – 48-year-old PC Palmer, who was on duty at the Palace of Westminster, along with US tourist Kurt Cochran, Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, 31, and Britons Aysha Frade, 44, and 75-year-old Leslie Rhodes, who were mown down on the bridge.

After Anderson’s release, it emerged he had shared hateful images on his Facebook page including an image of an AK-47 assault rifle placed in front of a prayer mat.

In another post, Anderson showed a box filled with bullets.

‘I found a box of pills that cure paedophilia,’ he wrote in the caption.

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