Man guilty of threatening to kill Nigel Farage

The jury heard how Fayaz Khan, an Afghan migrant, made the threat in a video

A man who came to the UK on a small boat has been found guilty of threatening to kill Nigel Farage in a video posted on TikTok.

Fayaz Khan, 26, posted a video last October where he named the Reform UK leader and made a gun gesture with his hand.

The jury went out at 12:54 BST on Wednesday before returning its verdict at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

Khan had a "very large presence online" with his videos on TikTok under the username "madapasa", amassing hundreds of thousands of views.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage went to Southwark Crown Court to give evidence during Khan's trial

Prosecutor Peter Ratliff said Khan's videos showed his attempts to come to the UK by small boat from Afghanistan.

On 12 October, Farage uploaded a video to YouTube titled "the journey of an illegal migrant" which highlighted Khan and referenced "young males of fighting age coming into our country about whom we know very little".

Mr Ratliff said Khan responded with a video on 14 October, which was played to the jury, in which Khan addressed the Reform UK MP as "Englishman Nigel".

The video continued: "You not know me. I come to England because I want to marry with your sister. You not know me.

"Don't talk about me more. Delete the video.

"I'm coming to England. I'm going to pop, pop, pop."

Mr Ratliff told the jury that while Khan said "pop, pop, pop" he had made "gun gestures" with his hand and headbutted the camera.

'Pretty chilling'

Khan, an Afghan migrant, had also pointed towards an AK-47 tattoo on his face to "emphasise he wasn't joking".

The prosecutor added: "If you've got an AK-47 tattooed on your arm and your face, it's because you love AK-47s and you want the world to know that."

Farage, the MP for Clacton in Essex, gave evidence on Tuesday and said Khan's video was "pretty chilling", adding: "Given his proximity to guns and love of guns, I was genuinely worried."

The Reform UK leader added: "He says he's coming to England and he's going to shoot me."

Jurors were shown other videos posted on social media by Khan in which he appeared to make "pop, pop, pop" noises and similar hand gestures to those in the TikTok video referencing Farage.

Khan came to the UK on a small boat last year from Afghanistan

Khan was not called to give evidence on Wednesday by defence lawyer Charles Royle, but in a police interview last year he had said: "It was never my intention to kill him or anything.

"This is my character, this is how I act in my videos."

Khan said: "In every video I make those sounds, I say 'pop, pop pop'."

Jurors were also shown a screenshot of a subsequent TikTok post by Khan with the caption "I mean what I say" written on an image of a GB News report about the alleged threat against Farage.

In the prosecution's closing speech, Mr Ratliff said the alleged threat to kill was "not some off-the-cuff comment" and the video was "sinister and menacing".

He added that Khan was "a dangerous man with an interest in firearms".

In his closing defence speech, Mr Royle said Khan was "remonstrating in his own idiosyncratic, moronic, comedic, eye-catching, attention-seeking way", rather than making a threat to kill.

The Metropolitan Police said Khan is due to be sentenced on 14 October.