Salim Youssoufi: Birmingham man who 'pledged allegiance to IS' jailed

Salim Youssoufi claimed he downloaded terrorist propaganda "out of curiosity"

A man who downloaded terrorism material and recorded himself pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group has been jailed.

Salim Youssoufi, 26, from Small Heath, Birmingham, had claimed he downloaded the documents "out of curiosity".

The Italian national was convicted of four counts of possessing information likely to be useful for committing or preparing a terrorist act.

He was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to four years.

Three of those years will be spent in custody with the final year on extended license.

West Midlands Police said the former electronics and telecommunications student travelled to the UK in September 2019 and moved into his address on Coventry Road with his wife, three months before his arrest.

The force seized his phone and found he had downloaded copies of an al-Qaida propaganda magazine while he was living in Italy, but had never deleted them.

Officers also discovered a recording of Youssoufi pledging allegiance to IS to demonstrate his commitment to the terrorist organisation but said he initially denied this in his police interview.

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Det Ch Supt Kenny Bell, from the force, said the material found on Youssoufi's phone was "very disturbing and dangerous".

"In police interview, Youssufi claimed he had sought out the documents out of curiosity but it is clear that he had knowingly downloaded and possessed these illegal documents."