Two brothers who pleaded guilty to planning to travel to Afghanistan to join a branch of the Islamic State (IS) have been sentenced to jail. Birmingham Crown Court heard how Muhammad Abdul Haleem Heyder Khan, 21, and Muhammad Hamzah Heyder Khan, 18, became increasingly radicalised over the course of 2022. Both researched how to travel to Afghanistan to join the terrorist organisation known as Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP).
IS was proscribed by the home secretary in 2014 and ISKP is recognised as one of its “regional branches”. However, both brothers changed their pleas to guilty less than a week into their trial in July. Muhammad Abdul Haleem Heyder Khan was jailed for 10 years, while his younger brother was given an eight-year custodial sentence. The pair, from Ward End, Birmingham, were each handed an extended period on licence of four years.
Judge Melbourne Inman KC explained the sentence, saying there remained a “significant risk” that the pair could cause “serious harm” and he said he needed to ensure the public was “properly protected”. “Up until trial, it is a very relevant fact that you were both advancing a completely dishonest account, that you did not hold any extreme views,” he said. “I consider it necessary to impose an extended sentence of imprisonment in each of your cases, which means that there will be an extended licence period in each case of four years.”
BBC West Midlands reports that the two brothers were arrested on 2 November last year. During their trial, it was revealed that they were both radicalised and keen to travel to a territory controlled by the Islamic State. The sentence is a reminder that the UK continues to operate a strong counter-terrorism policy to prevent people from travelling to areas controlled by extremist organisations
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