Birmingham Bricklayer Sentenced For Trying To Join I.S

14 February 2017, 17:11 | Updated: 14 February 2017, 17:51

Humza Ali Zeb Ali Birmingham Terror

Humza Ali had trained for battle at a paintballing centre in the city

A Birmingham bricklayer has been sentenced to 9 years in a young offender's institute for trying to join so-called Islamic State.

20 year-old Humza Ali from Bromford Lane in Ward End - trained for battle at a paintballing centre in Hockley Heath.

A second man, 19 year-old Zeb Ali from Washwood Heath got 21 months for distributing extremist literature.

ACC Marcus Beale, Counter Terrorism Lead for West Midlands Police, said: 

"These men had a large amount of imagery, videos and documents on their phones, we also had evidence that Ali tried to get into Turkey for onward travel to Syria in order to fight for Daesh.

"We cannot underestimate the dangerous nature of the propaganda produced by Daesh and the influence it can have; which is why it is so important to hold to account those who share with others these social media posts.

"If anyone is concerned that a friend or family member is thinking of travelling to Syria it is very important that they tell us as soon as possible. Police and other agencies can offer support to help safeguard those who are vulnerable to radicalisers.

"The sooner we can intervene, the better chance we have of preventing young people from becoming embroiled in the conflict and facing potential prosecution."