Videos of execution shown to youngster
A PHARMACIST who claimed Islamic State were “not bad people” has been jailed for six years after he was convicted of showing a beheading video to a young child.
Zameer Ghumra “brainwashed” two primary school-age youngsters, instructing them to not have non-Muslim friends and asking if they wanted to join the terrorist group or help recruit others to its ranks.
The 38-year-old was convicted at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday of disseminating “terrorist propaganda” in the form of a graphic Twitter video on his mobile phone between January 2013 and September 2014. Ghumra, of Haringworth Road, Leicester, was sentenced at the same court yesterday.
He had denied the charge but was convicted after a trial lasting eight days.
During the trial, the court heard how Ghumra taught the children how to “survive a bomb attack” and fight with knives – rewarding them with sweets to keep them on-side.
The jury also heard that the two children were told that when they arrived in Syria, they would have to behead people.
Ghumra had been working as a pharmacist in Oundle, Northamptonshire, before he was arrested.
Simon Davis, prosecuting, said Ghumra had told a customer at the pharmacy that Islamic State were “not bad people – they’re only defending themselves”.
Ghumra followed IS-linked social media accounts and made the two children follow similar accounts. The prosecution said Ghumra had claimed the children had been put up to “making a false allegation”. Jurors also heard how he had online conversations with IS activist Anjem Choudary, describing him as “a good man” to the children.
Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden, the head of counter-terrorism policing in the North-East, said Ghumra’s offending was “significant”.
He said: “Zameer Ghumra willingly abused a position of trust, showing young children a violent and explicit beheading video with no regard for the profound effect the disturbing material may have on them. That act alone is unforgivable.
“He also used social media accounts to follow terrorist content online and to advertise his teaching services. His teaching role increases his risk, potentially giving him direct access to young or vulnerable people who may look up to him as an authority figure.
“Terrorist publications and propaganda seek to encourage support for terrorism and the implications of sharing or disseminating them are extremely serious.”