Dangerous Manchester man had 'colossal' amount of extremist propaganda on computer and phone

A "dangerous" man who was found to have a "colossal" amount of extremist propaganda on his computer and phone has been jailed for terrorism offences.

Counter Terrorism Police believe the material owned by Wissam Tariq Mahmoud Ziad, which supported extremist group Daesh (ISIS), was 'capable of encouraging terrorism'.

Officer say Ziad, of Central Avenue, Levenshulme, positioned himself as a 'religious authority' and encouraged support for terrorist organisations.

Counter terrorism police became aware of Ziad after one of his acquaintances was stopped at Stansted airport in September 2019.

Islamic extremist material was found in a group chat on his phone, named Roma Pizza, which Ziad set up. Some of the conversations included views about Daesh.

After Ziad was arrested in May 2020, his phone and computer were seized and a 'colossal' number of files containing propaganda supporting extremism was found.

He used groups, set up himself, to share his extreme beliefs with people around the world.

Ziad was re-arrested on Tuesday 15 June 2021 and he admitted eight charges under Terrorism Act legislation including six counts of dissemination of terrorist publications, one encouragement of terrorism, and one support of a proscribed organisation

On Thursday 9 December, he was sentenced to 41 months in prison at Manchester Crown Court.

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Meeks, of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, said: "He incited support and encouraged others to research extremist organisations, positioning himself as a religious authority - he is a dangerous man with extremist views and is quite rightly behind bars."