Man jailed for Islamic State membership

Kyle Marcano was in a chat group which shared terrorism material, Birmingham Crown Court heard

A Birmingham man has been jailed for terrorism offences after being found guilty of being a member of Islamic State and sharing extremist material on a WhatsApp group.

Kyle Marcano, aged 28, was found guilty after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court in April of one count of membership of a proscribed organisation and four counts of dissemination of terrorist publications.

One of these publications was an Islamic State recruitment video.

He was jailed on Thursday for 11 years and was given a four-year extended licence, having been assessed as a dangerous offender.

During the trial, the court heard that Marcano was in a chat group which shared terrorism material and he had pledged an oath of allegiance to the then leader of Islamic State.

He was arrested in March 2023 for an unrelated offence when officers seized his phone, which once examined revealed his inclusion in a chat group which shared terrorism material.

He was then arrested for terrorism offences.

Marcano pleaded guilty to four offences last November, including sending terrorist publications.

A second man, who was also part of the same chat group, pleaded guilty at a hearing in January.

Muhammed Maroof, aged 19 and also from Birmingham, pleaded guilty to four offences of distributing terrorist material.

He was sentenced to four years and 10 months earlier this year.

Det Ch Supt Alison Hurst, who leads the West Midlands counter terrorism unit, said: "The jury found Marcano guilty of being a fully-fledged member of Isis from the evidence that was presented during the trial.

"Marcano and Maroof knowingly shared videos and images containing very disturbing and dangerous content.

“We will continue to protect local communities by working with partners and the CPS to pursue and prosecute all those who show support for terrorism."