Shakil Chapra jailed over 9/11 anniversary WhatsApp video

Shakil Chapra was jailed at Kingston Crown Court for two years and six months

A man who shared a video glorifying Islamist terrorism on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has been jailed.

Shakil Chapra, of Slough, sent the clip of the machine gun-wielding leader of Nigerian terrorists Boko Haram to a Whatsapp group on 11 September 2019.

Members of the 52-strong group also wished each other "happy 9/11" during the chat, Kingston Crown Court heard.

Chapra was jailed for two years and six months after admitting to dissemination of a terrorist publication.

The 43-year-old was told he would serve an additional 12 months on extended licence.

Police became aware of the video Chapra sent when officers seized the phone of another person in an unrelated drugs investigation, the court was told.

Messages sent by others on the Whatsapp group on the day Chapra shared the video included "it's a sweet 18 party".

Judge Peter Lodder QC said these were "clear references to the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York".

He added: "That same day, under the name Abu Haleema, you sent a message saying 'I will show you the most gangster Nigerian' and you endorsed the content of a one-minute, 33-second video."

The judge said the video glorified Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group and was banned in the UK because of its terrorist activity.

Joined banned group

The video played to the court showed Boko Haram's leader condemning moderate Muslims and supporters of democracy, before firing a machine gun into the air.

Judge Lodder told the defendant: "You later accepted that the video was about the kidnapping of school children."

The court was told Chapra joined the banned al-Muhajiroun (ALM) group in 2013 and was filmed praying in front of the black flag of IS during the Channel 4 documentary The Jihadis Next Door in 2016.

He was seen in the programme alongside Khuram Butt, one of the London Bridge attackers, who killed eight people and injured dozens more when they ploughed a van into pedestrians on 3 June 2017.

In mitigation, defence barrister Hossein Zahir QC said Chapra no longer supported IS and that his "ideological view has changed".