British man sentenced to 28 months imprisonment for sharing Islamic State beheading videos

A British man has been sentenced to 28 months’ imprisonment at the Old Bailey today (1 October 2021) for sharing Daesh beheading videos.

Stefan Aristidou, 27, pleaded guilty on 29 July 2021 to sharing pro-Daesh terrorist material between 22 November 2014 and 22 December 2014 as part of a series of messages sent to a friend. The messages stopped after Aristidou said that he was leaving the UK to join Daesh in March 2015.

Aristidou was charged and convicted in Turkey of being a member of Daesh on 15 October 2018 and sentenced to 6 years 3 months, which he was released from early. He was then arrested on return to the UK on 3 February 2021 following deportation from Turkey.

Nick Price, Head of the CPS Counter Terrorism Division, said: “The CPS was able to show that Stefan Aristidou shared terrorist material on a regular basis before he left the UK in 2015, and unapologetically supported Daesh. The content Aristidou shared was dangerous and it is right that he has been sentenced today.”

Stefan Aristidou was a resident in the UK until April 2015 when he was reported missing by his family along with his wife.

In 2015, at the time Aristidou went missing, his family were concerned that he had left to join Daesh and contacted the police. His computer was then examined by police hi-tech investigators who found extremist, pro-Daesh videos and evidence of research into Daesh.

Aristidou also sent links to websites where there were Daesh beheading videos. One video he shared was titled ‘ISIS execute soldiers.’ It had a ‘black flag’ in the corner indicating it was produced by Daesh.

The chat around sending the links showed that Aristidou was consistently supportive of Daesh.

Source: CPS